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EnirrfiwpH bu Ch!irlc= SnioHB, N.Y., .ittci Wm, E. Ms«h^ll's " Hou!»hold Eo?ipvincr of W^Sinolno," 



PATTON'S 

CONCISE HISTORY 

OF THE 

AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

FROM THE DISCOVERIES OF THE CONTINENT 

THE CENTENNIAL YEAR 
OF THE NATION'S INDEPENDENCE, 

GIVING A CLEAR ACCOUNT OF THEIR POLITICAL, MILITARY, MORAL, 
INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL LIFE, 

BY 

JACOB HARRIS PATTON, A.M. 

WITH PORTRAITS, CHARTS, MAPS, ETC., AND CONTAINING MARGINAL 

DATES, STATISTICAL REFERENCES, AND A FULL 

ANALYTICAL INDEX. 





NEW YORK: 

J. B. FORD <S- COMPANY. 

1876. 



COPTBIGHT, 1876. J. B. FORD & CO. 



C-n? 



PREFACE. 



Elaborate histories of the United States have been 
ably written, while compends or school histories — well 
adapted to the place they are designed to fill — are numer- 
ous. Between these compends and the works extending 
from three to ten volumes there is room, as well as neces- 
sity, for a history that shall be sufficiently elaborate to 
trace the direct influences that have had a power in 
moulding the cliaracter of the nation and its institutions, 
moral and political. In accordance with tliis view this 
volume is designed to present, as fully as consistent with 
the plan, those events which are interesting in themselves 
and characteristic of the times or people. 

While the author has availed himself as ranch as pos- 
sible of original authorities, and acknowledges his obli- 
gations to the many elaborate United States and State 
histories, yet his main effort has been to set forth our 
history in his own language, wrought into a consecutive 
narrative, confining himself to wliat are the true elemfents 
of history — that is. only those events and principles that 
have had influence ; making, occasionally, an informal 
summary of the less important facts to keep perfect the 
thread of the narrative. The earlier portions of this his- 



IV PEEFACE. 

tory, issued during the years of bitterest sectional feeling 
precedent to the late civil war, had the good fortune to 
be received both in the North and in tlie South as a 
"lucid" and "imi^artial" narratiye of facts; even the 
extreme political journals of both sides commended it as 
"accurate" and "discriminating." This fact has been 
a great encouragement to the author in his attempt to 
truthfully relate the stoiy of the subsequent years. 

In these latter days public documents are iiublished to 
the world, and the materials of history become accessible 
to all. By this means the main and leading facts of tlie 
late War are as well known to-day as they ever will be, 
with the exception of a few instances in the career of 
individuals which will be revealed when the " Life and 
Times" of each comes to be written. This latter class of 
material, however, unfortunately often largely embellished 
and explained by after-thoughts, may throw light upon 
])ersonal motives and actions, but will shed little upon 
the great events themselves. For in the late exciting 
period statesmen groped their way ; no man saw the end 
from the beginning. An overruling Hand brought about 
the great result, not by the plannings of men, but in spite 
of them. 

It is hoped that the intelligent reader will find in this 
volume a succinct as well as a comprehensive view of the 
history of the American jieople, and of the influences that 
have formed their characteristics and their Government. 

J. H. P. 
New York, February 1, 1876. 



OOI^TEl^TS. 



OHAPTBB I. 

COLUMBUS. 

His Discoveries, 4. Misfortunes, 5. Death, 5. Amerigo Vespucci 
and the name America, C. 

CHAPTER n. 

ABORIGINES. 

CHAPTER ni. 

SPANISH DISCOVERLES -OfD CONQCBSTS. 

South Sea, 11. First Voyage Round the World, 11. Ponce de Leon. 
13. Florida, Discovery and Attempt to Settle, 13. Vasquez de 
Ayliou, 13. Conquest of Mexico and Peru, 14. 

CHAPTER rv. 

ENGLISH AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES. 

John Cabot discovers the American Continent, 16. His son, Sebas- 
tian, 16. Voyages of Verrazzani, 17. Voyages of Cartier, 18. At- 
tempts at Settlement, 20. 

♦ CHAPTER V. 

DE SOTO AND THE MISSISSIPPI. 

Lands at Tampa Bay, 23. On the Mississippi, 25. Death of De 
Soto, 26. 

CHAPTER Vr. 

THE RErORMATION AND ITS ETPECTS. 

CHAPTER VU. 

THE HUOUENOTS IN THE SOrTH. 

Their Settlement destroyed, .30, .31. The Colony of St. Augustine, 32. 
De Gourges, 34. Settlements in New Prance, 35. Champlain, 
and liis Success, 36. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

ENGLISH ENTERPRISE. 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 3S. The Fisheries— St. John's, Newfound- 
land, 39. Sir Walter Raleigh, .39. Exploring Expedition— Vir- 
ginia, 40. Failures to colonize, 41. Contest with Spain, 42. Death 
of Sir Walter, 43. 



Vi CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGHriA. 

London and Plymouth Companies, 46. King James's Laws, 46. The 
Voyage anci Arrival— Jamestown, 47. J ohn Smith ; his energy, 
47. His Captivity, 49. Misery of the Colonists, 50. New Emi- 
grants, 51. Lord Delaware, 52. Sir Thomas Gates. 53. Pocahon- 
taa ; her Capture and Marriage, 54. George Teardley, 55. First 
Legislative Assembly, 5G. 

CHAPTER X. 

COLONIZATION OF NEW ENGLAND. 

First Voyage to, .57. Bxploratious of John Smith, 58. The Church 
of England, 59. The Puritans, GO. Congi-egation of John Robin- 
son, 61. Pilgrims in Holland, 6.i. Arrangements to emigrate, 63. 
The Voyage, 65. Their prominent Men, 66. A Constitution 
adopted, 67. Landing at Plymouth, 68. Sufferings— Indians, 
69. Weston's Men, 71. Thanksgiving, 72. Democratic Govern- 
ment, 73. 

CHAPTER XL 

COLONT OP BIASSACHUSETTS BAY. 

A Company organized; Settlement of Salem, 75. The Charter trans- 
ferred, 76. Boston and Vicinity settled, 77. Roger Williams : his 
Banishment; he founds Providence, 78. Discussions renewed — 
Anne Hutchinson; Settlement of Rhode Island, 80. The Dutch 
at Hartford ; Disputes with, 81, Migrations to the Connecticut ; 
Hooker and Haynes, 82. Pequod War, 84. Rev. John Daven- 
port; Settlemeut of New Haven, 88. Sir Ferdinand Gorges; 
New Hampshire, 89. The United Colonies, 90. Educated Men ; 
Harvard College, Printing Press, Common Schools, 91. Quakers: 
■ Persecution of, 'Ji. Eliot the Apostle — the Mayhews, 93. Prog- 
ress, 94. 

CHAPTER XII. 

VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND. , 

Slavery — Massacre by the Indians, 96. Lord Baltimore, 99. Settle- 
ment of Maryland, 100. Clayborne's Rebellion, 101. Toleration 
— Berkeley Governor of Virginia, intolerance, 10;i. State of So- 
ciety, 103. Aristocratic Assemblv. 104. War with the Susquehan- 
nas— Nathaniel Bacon, 105. Disturbances, Obnoxious Assembly 
dissolved, 108. Jamestown burned; Death of Bacon, 107. Tyr- 
anny of Berkeley ; Aristocratic Assembly ; its Illiberal Acts, 108. 
Deplorable State of the Colony. 109. College of William and 
Mary, 110. Troubles in Maryland, 111. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

COLONIZATION OF NEW YORK. 

Hudson's Discoveries, 112. A Change wrought, 113. The Fort on 
the Isle of Manhattan, 111. V>'^alloons— the first Settlers — I'eter 
Miuuits, 115. The Patroons; Van Twiller Governor, 116. Kieft 
his Successor, 117. Difficulties with the Indians, 118. They seek 
Protection ; their Massacre, 119. Peace concluded, 122. Stuy ves- 
ant Governor, 123. The Swedish Settlement on the Delaware; 
Pavonia, 124. New Netherlands Sin-rendered to England, 126. 
The Influence of the Dutch, 127. Settlements in New Jersey; 
Scotch Presbyterians, 12S. 



CONTENTS. ■ yii 

CHAPTER XrV. 

COLONIZATION OF PENNSfLVANIA. 

The Quakers, 130. William Penn; his Education, 131. Obtains a 
Charter, 133. Lands at New Castle ; Philadelphia Pounded, 131. 
Bights of the ludiaus, 135. German Emigrauts, 136. Fletcher 
the Royal Governor, 1-37. New Charter gi-auted the People — 
Presliyteriaus from Ireland and Scot laud, 138; Trials of Penn; 
his Death— Benjamin Franklin, 139. 

CHAPTER XV. 

COLONIZATION OF THE CAROLINAS. 

The first Settlers, Ul. Grants to Royal Favorites— The "Grand 
Model," 142. Setilemeut at Cape Fear River— Sir John Teamans, 
1-13. Emigrants under Sayle, 114. The Huguenots, 145. The 
People Independent, 146. Churchuien and Dissenters, 147. Rice 
— Manufactures prohibited, 148. War — Failure to capture St. 
Augustine, 149. The Ruin of the Apalachees, 150. Religious Con- 
troversies, 151. Indian Wars — German Emigrants, 152. The 
People repudiate the Authority of the Proprietaries, 155. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

COLONIZATION OF GEORGIA. 

Founded in Benevolence — Oglethorpe, 156. First Emigration, 157. 
Savannah— Eucouragemeuts, 158. Germans from the Western 
Alps, 1.59. The Moravians— Scotch Islanders, 161. TheWesleys — 
Whitefield; his Orphan House, 162. War with Spain; its Cause, 
163. Failure to capture St. Augustine, 104. Repulse of the Span- 
ish Invaders, 165. The Colony becomes a Royal Province, 166. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

NEW ENGLAND TTNDEH CHARLES II. AND JAMES H. 

The Restoration, 167. The Commissioners — Progress of Trade, 168. 
Causes of King Philip's War, 169. Death of Wamsutta, 170. State 
of the Colony— Attack at Swauzey, 171. Philip among the Nip- 
mucks, 172. Attacks on Nortbfield — on Hadley, Goffe, 173. 
Tragedy at Bloody Brook— The Narraganset Fort destroyed, 174. 
Philip Returns to Mount Hope to dif, 175. The Disasters of the 
War, 176. James II.— his Intolerance, 177. The Charters in Dan- 
ger — Andros Governor— his Illegal Measures, 178. Charter of 
Rhode Island taken away— Andros at Hartford. 179. Andros in 
Jail; the Charters resumed, 180. The Men of influence, 181. 

CH.VPTER XVIII. 

COMMOTION IN NEW YORK— ^VTTCHCRAIT IN MASSACHUSETTS. 

Leisler acting Governor of New York, 182. The Old Council refuses 
to yield— Sloughter, Governor, 183. Trial and Execution of Leis- 
ler and Melbourne. 184. Beniamhi Fletcher, Governor; his fail- 
ure at Hartford, 185. Yale College, 186. The Triumph of a Free 
Press, 187. Witchcraft; belief in, 188. Cotton Mather, 189. 
Various Persons accused at Salem, 190. Stoughton as Judge, and 
PaiTis as Accuser, 191. Minister Burroughs, 192. Calef's Pam- 
phlet, 193. Mather's stand in favor of Inoculation, 194. 



VUl • CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

MISSIONS AND SETTLEMENTS IN NEW FKANCB. 

The Emigrants, 198. The Jesuits; their zeal as Teachers and Ex- 
plorers, 197. The Cliief Ahasistari, l'J8. The Five Nations, or 
Iroquois, 11)9. Father Jogues, 20U. The Abenaliis; Dreuilettes, 
201. French Settlers at Oswego— Father AUouez, 202. James 
Marquette — The Mississiiipi, 2iM. La Salle, 204. His Enterprise ; 
his failui-e and Tragical End, 206. 

CHAPTER XX. 

IIAKAUDINO EXPEDITIONS ; SETTLEMENT OF LOUISIANA ; CAFTUBE OF 

LOUISBURG. 

Mohawks hcstile to the French, 206. Dover attacked ; Major Wal- 
di-on, 209. Schenectady burned— the inhuman Frontenac, 210. 
The Colonists act tor themselves — Invasion ol Canada, 211. 
Heroism of Hannah Dustiu, 212. Ueertteld Taken ; Eunice Will- 
iams, 213. D'Ibberville plants a Colony on the Pasca^oula, 215. 
Trading Posts on the Illinois and the Mississippi, 216. The Choo- 
taws, 217. Destruction of toe Natchez, 218. Attempts to subdue 
the Chickasaws, 219. King George's War; Capture of Louisburg, 
320. The English Ministry alarmed, 222. Jonathan Edwards — 
The " Great Revival," 223. Princeton CoUege, 221- 

CHAPTER XXI. 

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

The Valley of the Ohio— French and English Claimants, 225. Gist, the 
Pioneer, 226. George Washington, 2:27. His Character — His 
Mission to the French on the .Uleghany, 2:39. St. Pierre's Letter 
unsatisfacDory, 231. Fort du Quesne Imilt — Wasliington sent to 
defend the Frontier-^ 23:J. The first Conflict of the War— Fort 
Necessity, 233. British Troops arrive in Ameiica, 234. Plan of 
Operations — General Braddock, 235. The Army on the March — 
Captain Jack, 2.36. The Battle of Monougahela, 23.S. Death and 
Burial of Braddock, 240. Dunbar's Panic — The Effects of these 
Events, 241. 

CHAPTER XXn. 

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR — CONTINITED. 

The French Acadiens — Their Industry and good Morals, 245. Their 
Mom-uful Exile, 246. Expedition agamst Crown Point, 248. The 
English defeated— Di^th of Colonel Williams, 249. Repulse of 
the French- Death of Dieskau— Williams College, 250. Kittaning 
destroyed, 251. Montcalm Acts with Energy, 253. Fort William 
Henry taken, 254. Canadji Exhausted, 255. 

CHAPTER XXIH. 

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR— CONTrNDID. 

William Pitt, Prime Minister, 256. Lord Amherst^Plan of Opera- 
ations— Louisburg captured, :J57. English repulsed— Fort Fron- 
tenac captured, 258. Washington takes Possession of Fort Du 
Quesne, 259. Pittsl)urg, 260. The French abandon Tieonderoga, 
201. Wolfe before (Juebec, £62 The Battle on the Heights of 
Abraham, 264. Deaths of Wolfe and Montcalm— their Memories, 
265. Quebec Capitulates— Cherokee War, 366. Destruction of 
their Crops and Villages, 268. Poutiac, 269. Desolations along 
the Frontiers, 270. General Bouquet, 271. Pontiac's Death, 272. 



CONTENTS. IX 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

CHAKACTERISTICS OP THE COLONISTS. 

Religious Influences among the early Settlers, 273. Love of domestic 
Life, 2T4. Laws enjoiuiug Molality, 275. Systems of Education; 
Common Schools, 276. Fiee Inquiry and Civil Liberty, 277. John 
Calvin — The Anglo-Saxon Element ; the Norman, 278. The 
Soutlierner; the Northerner— Influences in Feuusylvauia, 279. 
In New Yorli— Diversity of Ancestry, 280. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

CAUSES THAT LED TO THE REVOLUTION. 

Restrictions of Trade and Manufactures— Taxes Imposed by Parlia^ 
meut, 282. Writs of Assistance, 283. James Otis— Samuel Adams, 
284. The "Parsons' " Case in Virginia— Patrick Henry, 285. Col- 
onel Barre's Speech— Tlie Stamp Act, 287. Excitement in ihe 
Colonies- Resolutions not to use Stamps, 289. " Sons of Liberty," 
290. A Call for a Congress; it Meets, 291. Self-Denial of the 
Colonists- Pitt defends them, 292. Stamp Act repealed— Rejoic- 
ings, 293. Dartmouth College, 294. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

CAUSES THAT LED TO THE REVOLUTION- CONTINUED. 

The Engli 
ehus 
A Bri 

Articles of Association proposed by Washington; 298. Tax upon 
Tea, 299. The Gaspe captured, :Wb. The Resolutions not to re- 
ceive the Tea, .301. Tea Thrown into Boston Harbor— Its Recep- 
tion at other Places, 303. Boston Port Bill— Aid Sent to Boston, 
304. Gage's DifBeulties, ,305. Alexander Hamilton, 30G. The Old 
Continental Congress— The first Prayer, 307, The Papers issued 
by the Congress, 309. Views of Pitt in relation to them, 310. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

The Spirit of the People, 311. They seize Guns and Ammunition, 312. 
'I'he Massachusetts Prcjvincial Congress; its Measures, 313. The 
Restraining Bill, 314. Conflicts at Lexington and Concord, 315. 
Volunteers fly to Arms, and Beleaguer Boston— Stark— Putnam, 

317. BenedictArnold— Ethan Alien and the Green Mountain Boys, 

318. Capture of Ticouderoga, 319. Lord Dunmore in Virginia — 
Henry and the Independent Companies, .320. The News from 
Lexington rouses a Spirit of Resistance, 321. The Second Conti- 
nental Congress, 323. Its Mea-sures, 324. Adopts the Army lie- 
fore Boston, and ajipoiuts Washington Commander-in-Chief, 325. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. . 

Battle of Bunker Hill, .328. Death of Warren— Generals Charles Lee 
and Philip Schuyler, 3*3. State of Affairs in New York— Sir 
William Johnson, 334. Condition of the Army, 335. Nathaniel 
Greene— Morgan and his Riflemen, .336. Wants of the Army, 
337. Expedition against Canada, 338. Richard Montgomery — 
Allen's Rash Adventure, 339. Montreal captured— Arnold's toil- 



X CONTENTS. 

some March to Quebec, 340. That Place besieged, 341. Failure 
to Storm the Towu— Death of Montgomery, 34;^. Arnold in his 
Icy Fortress, 343. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

WAR OP THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 

Meeting of Congress— Alarming Evils, 344. Portland burned — Efforts 
to defend the Coast, 345. Parliament resolves to crush the Kebels, 
346. Henry Knox, 347. DifBculties in the Army— I'rovincial 
Prejudices, 348. Success of the Privateers— British Theatricals— 
The Union Flag, 34!). Affairs in New York— Kivington's Gazette, 
350. Governor i'ryon— General Lee in the City, 351. Dimniore's 
Measures— Noifolk burned, 352. Defeat of North Carolina Toiies, 
353. Cannon and Powder obtained, 355. Dorchester Height^j 
fortified— Boston evacuated, 356. Washington in New York, 357. 
Numerous Disasters— Retreat from Canada, 359. Horatio Gates, 
360. A British Fleet I)efore Fort Moultrie, 361. Gloomy Pros- 
pects, 362. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINITED. 

The Question of Indejiendence ; Influences in favor of, 364. The 
Tories— Common Sense, 366. The Declaration ; its Reception b^ 
the People and Army, ."68. Arrival of Admiral Howe, 3C9. His 
Overtures for RoiMiiicilintion, .370. The American Army; its 
Composition, Sectional Jealousies, .371. The t lintons, 872. Battle 
of Long Island, .37.3. The Masterly Retreat, 376. Incidents. 377. 
Howe confers with a Committee oi Congress, 378. Nathan Hale, 
379. The British at Klpp's Bay, 380. New York evacuated, 381. 
Conflict at White Plains. .382. Loss of Fort Washington, 384. 
Retreat Across New Jersey, 385. Waywardness of Lee, 386. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 

Discouragements— Howe's Proclamation, 887. Affairs on I.nkeCham- 
plaiurSSS. Heroism of Arnold, 389. Capture of Lee, S90. Battle 
of Trenton, 392. Battlo of Princeton, C98. Dealh of Mercer, 399. 
Washington returns to Morristown, 400. Coruwallis in his lines 
at Brunswick, 401. Putnam at Princeton, 402. Ill-treatment of 
American Prisoners, 403. Appointment of General Officers, 
Muhleuburg, Wayne, Conway— Medical Department, 404. The 
Navy, 405. Expeditions— Peekskill—Danbury, 406. Death of 
Wooster— Retaliation at Sag Harbor, 407. Schuyler and Gates. 
408. The National Flag, 409. 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTTNUED. 

The struggle excites an Interest in England and France, 410. Pri- 
vateers fitted out in France, 411. Munitions of War, 412. Howe;s 
Maneuvers. 413. Burgoyne on his Wav from Canada, 414. Ti- 
couderoaa captured, 415. St. Clair's Retreat, 416. Capture ot 
General' Prescott^The Secret Expedition— The American Army 
at Germantown, 417. Lafavette, 418. Pulaski and Kosciusko, 419 
Aid Sent to Schuvler-Howe lands at Elkton, 420. Battle of 
Rrandywine, 421. "Possession taken of Philadelphia— Battle of 
Germantown, 434. Hessians repulsed at Fort Mercer, 426. Win- 
ter Quarters at Valley Forge, 427. 



CONTENTS. XI 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

WAR OF THE KEVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 

Invasion from Canada — Appointment of General Gates, 428. Jenny 
MoCrea, 429. St. Leger besieges I'oi't Stanwix, 430. The Attempt 
to relieve it, 431. Battle ot Beuuiugtou, 43~'. Change of Pros- 
pects, 433. Battle of Behmus's Heights, 434. Tioouderoga be- 
sieged, 435. Biirgoyue suireuders his Army at Saratoga, 436. 
The Prisoners — Capture of i<'orts on the Huuson, 438. Bcuuyler, 
439. 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

WAS or THE UEVOI.nTION— CONTINtTED. 

Sufferings at Valley Forge, 440. EnglR,nd disappointed — Conciliatory 
Measures of Parliament, 441. The War i^resses liard upon the 
American People, 443. Difaculties in Congiess, 44;i. The " Con- 
way Caljal," 444. Baron Steuben, 446. Attempt to increase the 
Army, 447. Exchange of i^ee; his Treason, 44S. Treaty with 
France— British Commissioners, 449. Battle ot Monmouth, 450. 
Misconduct of Lee, 451. His death, 453. Combined attack upou 
Newport fails, 453. Massacre at Wyoming— at Cherry Valley, 
454. Invasion of Georgia, 4-56. 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

WAR OF THE BEVOLUTION— CONTINTIED. 

Dissensions in Congress, 457. Expedition against the Indians, 43S. 
The War in the South, 459. Marauding Kxpeditious sent to Vir- 
ginia, and up the Hudson— Tryon ravages Counectiout, 4G0. 
Wayne captures Stony Point, 4G1. Lee surprises the Garrison at 
Jersey City — Combined assault upon Savannah, 463. Daniel 
Boone, 463. Geoi-ge Rogers (Jlarke ; Kaskaskia — Pioneers of 
Tennessee ; Nashville, 434. John Paul Jones, 465. 

•CHAPTER XXXVI. 

WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINtTED. 

Hardships of the Soldiers, 4GS. British Success at the South, 4C7. 
Colonel Tarletou, 46t!. Charleston capitulates — Defeat at Wax- 
haws, 409. Rev. James Caldwell, 470. Maraud into Jersey, 471. 
French Fleet at Newport— The Partisan Leaders in tlie South, 
473. Gates in Command— Disastrous Battle of Camden, 474. 
Death of De Kalb, 475. Sumter's ^Success r.nd Defeat, 476. The 
Treason of Arnold— Major Andre, 477. Movements of Corn- 
wallis, 479. Colonel Ferguson— Tl»o Battle of King's Mountain, 
480. Tarleton repulsed, 483. Greene in Command — British tri- 
umphant in the South — Affairs in Euroije, 4S-3. Henry Laurens 
— Dangers of England ; her Energy, 484. 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUBD. 

Tlie Spirit of Revolt among the Soldiers, 486. Arnold r.avages the 
Shores of the Chesapeake, 488. Battle of the Cowpeus, 489." Mor- 
gan retreats'; Cornwa'.lis pursues, 491. Greene marches South — 
Lee scatters the Tories, 493. Battle of Guildford Court- House, 
494. Conflict at Hobkirk's Hill, 495. The Execution of Hayne, 
498. Battle of Eutaw Springs, 497. Plans to Capture New York, 
498. Wayne's Daring at James lli-^er, 499. National Finances- 



Xll CONTENTS. 

Robert Morris, 500. Clinton deceived — Combined Armies beyond 
the Delaware, 5U1. French Fleet in the Chesapeake, 5U:.'. New 
Ijondou burned by Arnold, 503. The Attack, 501. Coruwallis 
Surrenders, 505. Thanksgivings, 506. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

CLOSING EVENTS OP THE WAR— FORMATION OP THE CONS TI TU TI ON. 

British Efforts Paralyzed, 508. The States form Independent Gov- 
ernments—Indian Wars, 509. Massacre of tha Christian Dela- 
wares— Battle of the Blue Lick, 510. Lord North— Commissioners 
of Peace, 511. Peace concluded— Dissatisfaction in the American 
Army, 513. The " Anonymous Address," 513. British Prisoners ; 
the Tories, 514. Disbandment of the Army— Washington takes 
leave of his UfBcers, 515. Resigns his Commission, 516. Shay's 
Rebellion, 518. Interests of the States clash, 519. The Constitu- 
tional Convention, .530. The Constitution— its Ratification, 531. 
The Territory Northwest of the Ohio, 533. Ecclesiastical Organ- 
izations, 533. 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

WASHmQTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Reception and Inauguration of the President, .538. An Era in human 
Progress, 5:29. The Departments of State organized, 530. Hamil- 
ton's Financial Repoi't, o;31. Congress Assumes the Del)ts of the 
Nation— National Bank, 533. Commercial Enteii>rise — Manu- 
factures, 5.33. Indian War, 534. St. Clair defeated, 15.35. Wavne 
defeats the Indians, 53G. Political Parties-JefTcrson, .^k57. The 
French Revolution, 5.38. Genet arrives as French Minister— Neu- 
trality proclaimed by the President — Democratic Societies, 539. 
The Partisans of France— Recall of Genet, ,540. The first Settlers 
of Western Pennsylvania, 541. The Whiskey Insurrection, 543. 
Special Mission to Great Britain, 543. A Treaty concluded, 544. 
Other Treaties, 545. Washington's Farewell Address, 546. 

CHAPTER XL. 

JOHN ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Serious Aspect of Relations with France, 547. Commissioners of 
Peace, 548. The French Cruisers, 549. The Alien Act— War im- 
pentliug, 550. Washington Commander-in-Chief — Captui-e of the 
Frigate L'Insurgente, 551. Peace concluded — Death of Washing- 
ton, .553. Euloguims on his 'Character, .5.53. The city of Washing- 
ton l)ecomes the Seat of Go^'ei'nment, 554. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

JEFPERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

The President's Inaugural, 555. Purchase of Louisiana, 556. Pirates 
in the Mediterranean, 557. Burning of the Philadelphia, 558. 
Tripoli Bombarded, 5.59. Death of Hamilton, 560. Aaron Burr, 
561. Opposition to the Navy — Guuboats, 563. The Rights of 
Neutrals— The unjust Decrees issued by England and France, 
563. Imjiressment of American Seamen, ,564. Treaty with En- 
gland rejected l)y the President — Affair of the Chesapeake, 566. 
The Embargo ; its effect, 568. Manufactures, 569. The Embai'go 
repealed, 570. 



CONTENTS. xm 



CHAPTER XLn. 

MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Condition of the Country-Erskine's Negotiations, 571. Depreda- 
tions upon American Commerce— The Bambouillet Decree, 573. 
Affair of the Little Belt, 574. The Census— Indian Troubles— 
Teeumseh and tlie Prophet, 575. Battle of Tippecanoe, 5,7. The 
two Parties— The Twelfth Congress— Henry Clay— John C. Cal- 
houn, 578. Threatening Aspect of Foreign Relations, 5,9. De- 
bates in Congress— John Randolph, 580. Another Embargo, 583. 
War declared against Great Britain, 584. The Academy at 
West Point, 585. Bi"ts at Baltimore, 586. Operations m the 
Northwest, 587. Sifrreuder of Hull, 588. Impressment of Amer- 
ican Seamen, 588. American Ships in English Ports, 589. Fail- 
ures to Invade Canada, 5SH). Formation of Missionary bocieties, 
592. 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED. 

Vessels of the Navy, .593. The chase of the Constitution— Capture of 
the Alert, 594. The Guerriere— Incidents, 595. The Macedonian 
—The Frolic— The Java, 596. The Effects of these Naval Con- 
flicts in the United States and England, .597. Plan of Operations 
—Harrison advances on Detroit, .599. General Winchester a Pris- 
oner; Indian Barbarities— The Kentuckiaus fall into an Ambus- 
cade, 6110. Repulse at Port Stephenson— The loss of the Chesa- 
Seake, 601. Perry's Victory, 60,2. Battle of the Thames— Andrew 
ackson, 003. Leads an Expedition ; its Termination, COS. Tork 
Captured; Death of General Pike, 60G. Failures, 607. Newark 
binned, the severe Retaliation, 608. Ravages on Shores of the 
Chesapeake — Indian War in the South, 609. Jackson and others 
in the Field— Battle of the Great Horse Shoe, 610. Captain Por- 
ter's Cruise, GU. Formation of the Bible Society, 612. 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINIIED. 

The Thirteenth Congress ; its Members, Daniel Webster, 613. Mani- 
festo of the British Government, 614. Embarrassments— Com- 
missioners of Peace, 615. Jacob Brown— Winfleld Scott— Wilkin- 
son unsuccessful, 617. Battle of Luudy's Lane, C18. Battle on 
Lake Champlain, 621. The British on the Shores of the Chesa- 
peake, 6:33. Bladensburg, JK5. Capture of Wa.shington — Public 
Jauildings burned, 626. Defense of Fort McHenry— Death of 
General Ross, 627. Bombardment of Stonington— Distress in 
New England, 028. Debates in Congress, 629. Hartford Conven- 
tion, 630. 

CHAPTER XLV. 

MADISON'S ADSnNISTRATION — CONCLUDED. 

Jackson enters Pensacola, 633. New Orleans defenseless— The British 
laud, 634. Jackson's Measures of Defense, 635. Battle of New 
Orleans, 636. The Distress of the Country— The Relief , 638. Treaty 
of Peace, 6.39. Frigate President captured, 040. War with Algiers, 

641. Treaty with the Indians— National Bank— State of Indiana, 

642. John Fitch— Robert Fulton— First Steamboat, 643. 

CHAPTER XLVI. 

MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. 

A Return to the earlier Policy of the Government, 644. The Presi- 
dent's Tour in the Eastern "States— The Colonization Society, 645. 



XIV CONTENTS. 



Kevolutions in the Spanish Colonies— Indian War, 646. General 
Ja(!kson in the Piela— Purchase of Florida, 647. The Missouri 
Compromise, 648. The Monroe Doctrine— Financial Distress, 65'^. 
Increase of Tariff— Visit of Lafayette, 653. 

CHAPTER XLTII. 

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS'S ADMIinSTKATION. 

Manufactures and Internal Improvements, C55. Indian Lands in 
Georgia, 656. Death of the ex-Presidents Thomas Jefferson and 
John Adams, W)7. Free Masonry— Protection to American In- 
dustry, G58. Debates in Congress— Presid<)utial Contest, 660. 

CHAPTER XLVIII. 

JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Appointments to Office, 661. Removal of the Indians from Georgia, 
66".i. Bauli of the United States, 603. Hayne and Webster's De- 
bate— Nullification, 664. Tlie Compromise Bill ; its final Passage, 
667. Removal of the Deposits, C6S. Effect upon the Country — 
Indian Wars, 089. Osceola— Death of Judge Marshall, 670. In- 
demnity for French Spoliations, 671. 

CHAPTER XLIX. 

VAN BURIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Apparent Prosperity, 673. The Specie Circular— Distribution of the 
Surplus Puurts -Speculation, 674. The Sub-Tieasury, 675. State 
Indebtedness, G76. • 

CHAPTER L. 

HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION. 

The Inauguration, 677. Death of Harrison; Tyler President, 678. 
Bankrupt Law— The Bank Charters; their Vetoes, 679. Proposi- 
tion to treat with Great Britain— Insurrection in Canada— The 
Caroline, 680. Trial of McLeod, G81. Boundary Disputes in Maine 
—Treaty of Washington, 682. Questions of Visit and Impress- 
ment, 6S3. Exploring Expedition, 684. Texas Colonization ; 
Strusales, eS;-). Siege of the Alamo, 680. Davy Crockett— Goliad, 
Siege of— Mus-acrc of Prisoners, 687. Battle of San Jacinto, 688. 
Houston President- Question ofw^^nuexation in Congress, 689. 
Texas Annexed— Disturbances inTthode Island, 691. Iowa and 
Florida become States, 692. 

CHAPTER LI. 

FOLK'S ADSnNISTRATION. 

Difficulties with Mexico, 094. General Taylor at Corpus Christi, 695' 
Oregon Territorv; respective Claims to, 696. Settlement of 
Boundary, 698. iTaylor Marches to the Rio Grande— Thornton's 
Party Sui-prised, 699. Attack on Fort Brown, 700. Battle of 
Palo Alto, 701. Battle of Kesaca de la Palma, 702. Matamoras 
occupied— Measures of Congress, 704. The Volunteers— Plan of 
Operations— Mexico declares War, 705. Capture of Monterey, 707. 

CHAPTER LH. 

POLK'S ADJIINISTRATION — CONTINUHU. 

The President hopes for Peace— Santa Anna, 710. Hostilities to be 
renewed, 712. Troops withdrawn from General Taylor— Voluu- 



CONTENTS. ZV 



teers arrive at Monterey, 713. Santa Anna's Plans and Prepara- 
tions, 711. Taylor advances to Agua Nueva, 715. Battle of Buena 
Vista, 716. Tlie Mexican Chiefs Urrea and Romero. 

CHAPTER LHI. 

POLK'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINirED. t 

Emigration to Oregon, 732. John C. Fremont; his Explorations, 
' 733. Difficulties with the Mexican Governor, 735. American 
Settlers in alarm, 73<3. Califoiuia tree — Monterey on the Pacific 
captured, 737. Commodores Sloat and Stockton— Expedition of 
Keai'uey, 738. Santa Fe taken; a Government organized, 739. 
Doniphan's Expedition, 740. El Paso Taken, 742. Chihuahua oc- 
cupied, 743. An Insurrection; its Suppi'ession, 744. Trial of 
Fremont, 745. 

CHAPTER LIV. 

POLK'S ADMrNISTRATION— CONCLITOED. 

Movement of Troops, 746. Vera Cruz invested, 747. Its Bombard- 
ment and Capitulation, 748. Santa Anna's Energy, 749. Battle 
of Cerro Gordo, 750. General Scott at Puebla — His Misunder- 
standings with the Authorities at Washington, 751. N. P. Trist, 
Commissioner, 753. Dissensions in Mexico, 754. Scott's Manifes- 
to, 755. Advance upon t'lie Capital, 756. Battle ol Contreras, 757. 
Of Cliurubusco, 758. Attemijts to obtain Peace, 7G0. Couflict of 
Molino del Rey, 761. The Castle of ( hapultepec captured, 762. 
The American Army enters the City, 763. Santa Anna agam in 
the Field, 764. Treaty of Peace, 765. Misunderstandings among 
the American Officers, 766. Conditions of the Peace — Discovery 
of Gold in California, 767. The Effects- Heath of John Quincy 
Adams, 768. Wiimot Proviso, 769. The Presidential Election — 
Death of Mr. Polk, 770. 

CHAPTER LV. 

TAYLOR AND FILMOIIE'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Discussion on Slavery — Wiimot Proviso, 772. The Powers of the 
Constitution; their Api)lication in the Territories, 774. The 
President's Message; its Recommendations, 770. Debate on the 
Omniijus Bill, 777. Death of Calhoun — Death of President Tay- 
lor-Fillmore Inaugurated, 778. The Fugitive Slave Law, 779. 
The Mormons; their Origin, 780. Troubles — Settlement in Utah, 
781. A Disunion Convention, 781. Lopez invades C'uba, 7'82. 
Search for Sir John Franklin— Dr. E. K. Kane, 783. Death of 
Henry Clay ; of Daniel Webster, 784. The Tripartite Treaty, 784. 

CHAPTER LVL 

PIEaCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Purchase of the Mesilla Valley, 783. Treaty with Japan, 787. The 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill; the effects of the Measure, 788. Emi- 
grants to Kansas, 789. Struggles and Conflicts, 790. James Bu- 
chanan, President, 793. Tlie Contest continues in Kansas, 793. 
Platforms of Political Parties, 795. 

CHAPTER LVn. 

BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED. 

Traits of Character, North and South, 797. Comparative Int«lli- 
g':'nce in the Free and Slave States, 798. Benevolent Operations, 
800. Material Progress, 802. Compromises, 803. Republican 
Party, 804. Democi-atic Convention, 805. The Election, how 



XVI CONTENTS. 



receiyed, 800. Intent of Personal Liberty Bills, 807. Legislatures 
and Conventions, South, 808. Mou-eoerciou; Border States; 
Finances, 809. Buchanan's Message, 810. Fort Sumter, 811. Yu- 
lee'a Letter, 813. Mr. Lincoln's Jouiuey, 814. Confederate Con- 
stitution ; Fallacies, 815. 

CHAPTER LVin. 

LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION. 

The luauKuration, 816. Effect of the Inaugural, 817. Sumter Bom- 
barded, 819. The President's call for Volunteers ; Responses, 8'21. 
Si>irit of Loyalty, 8:ii. Kiot in Baltimore, 823. Confederate Con- 
gress at Riclimoud, 8il. Loyalty in 'I'ennessee and Missouri, 825. 
Advance into Virginia : Death of Ellswortli, 826. Proclamations ; 
Instructions to United States Ministers abroad, 827. English 
Neutrality, 828. Big Bethel Skirmish, 829. West Virginia treed 
of Confederates, 830. Battle of Bull Run. 831. Missouri, 834. 
Battle of Wilson's Creek; Death of Lyon, 835. FrciiKmt's I'roc- 
lamation, 837. Kentucky's Legislation, 838. Finaii(<s and tlie 
Army, 8.39. Ball's Bluff disaster, 840. Hatteras E.xinclition, 841. 
Capture of Hilton Head, 842. Soldiers and Money; Mason and 
Slidell, 84.3. Battle of Belmont, 845. Battle of MiU Spring, 846. 
Davis's Special Message, 847. Meeting of Congress; the tJnion 
Army, 848. Capture of Forts Henry and Douelson, 849-53. 

CHAPTER LIX. 

lilNCOLN'S ADinNISTRATION— CONTINTTED. 

Burnside's Expedition to North Carolina, 8.55. Battle of Pea Ridge, 
8.56. Capture of New Maih'id and Island No. 10, 857. Battle of 
Pittsliiirg Landing, or Shiloh, 859-01. Cajiture of New Orleans, 
862. Death of Admiral Poote; Battle of river iron-clads, 866. 
Evacuation of Corintli, 807. Plans of Movements on Richmond, 
868. The Merrimac and Monitor Duel, 869. 

CHAPTER LX. 

LINCOLN'S ADSnNISTRATION— CONTINTTED. 

Movement of the Army of the Potomac, 873. Evacuation of Manas- 
sas, 874. Yorktowu, Siege of, 875. Battle of Williamsburg, 877. 
Sanitarv Commission, 878. Excitement in Richmond; Conscrip- 
tion Law, 879. Generals Banks and Jackson in the Valley, 880. 
The Chiekahominy; Battle of Fair Oaks, 881. Lee in command, 
882. Battle of Cold Harbor, 883. Change of Base, 885. Battle of 
Malvern Hill, 886. Harrison's Landing, 888. Cedar Mountain, 
889. Second Battle of Bull Run, 891. Lee invades Maryland, 892. 
Harper's Ferry captured, 893. Battle of Antietam, 894. Lee 
retreats, 896. McClellan's slowness; his removal, 897. Burnside 
in command ; Battle of Fredericksbui-g, 898. 

CHAPTER LXI. 

LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION — CONTINUED. 

invasion of Kentucky; Battle of Perry-ville, 900. battle of luka; 
Preliminary Prodamation, 901. Ojiposition; the Slave's Hope, 
902. Battle of M urf reesboro, 903. Confederate Failures, 904. 
Sherman on the Yazoo, 905. Capture of Fort Hindman; Presi- 
dent's Message, 906. Finances; Northern Industries, 90". Con- 
federate Finances, 908. Battle of Chancellorville, 909. Death of 
"Stonewall" Jackson, 910. 



COKTENTS. XTU 

CHAPTER LXn. 

UNCOUS'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED. 

Lee's Advance North, 913. Crosses the Potomac, 913. Hooker re- 
signs; Meade in commiud, 914. Battle of Gettysburg, 915-20. 
Lee's retreat, %1. Vicksburg; Victories, 932. Vickslmrg and 
Port Hudson captured, 923. Naval Expedition, 924. The Dratt 
and Riot, 933. French Protestant Address, 92C. Colored Soldiers, 
927. 

CHAPTER LXin. 

UNCOIiN'a ADMINISTKATION— CONTINUED. 

The March to Chattanooga, 928. The battle; Chickamauga, 929. 
Burnside; Knoxville, 930. Battle above the clouds, 931. Bragg's 
defeat, 932. Marauders in Missouri, 933. Red River Expedition ; 
Port Pillow Massacre, 934. Grant; Lieutenant-General ; Position 
of Affairs, 935. Sherman flanks Johnston; he falls back, 936. 
Defeat of Bishop Polk; Kenesaw Mountain, 937. Hood in com- 
mand; Battles, 938. Death of McPherson; Railways broken, 939. 
" Atlanta ours " ; March to the Sea ; The Christmas Gift, 940-41. 

CHAPTER TiXTY. 

UNCOLN'S ADMINISTBATION — CONTINUED. 

Grant's choice of Subordinates, 942. Battles in the Wilderness, 943- 
44. Butler at Bermuda Hundreds, 945. Confederate repulses; 
Movement to the James, 94G. Early in the Valley, 947. Sheridan 
in command; his ride, 948-49. The mine; Capture of Mobile, 950. 
Outrages in Missouri ; Wilmington captured, 951. Hood on the 
march, 953. Battle of Nashville; Hood's defeat, 953. 

CHAPTER LXV. 

LINCOliN'S ADSnNISTRATION— CONTINUED. 

Grant's design; Platforms of Parties, 955. Second Inauguration, 956. 
Disposition of Union Forces, 9.57. Lee's Plans, 9.58. Battle; Five 
Forks, 959. Lee surrenders; Richmond on fire and occui>ied, 960. 
Jefferson Davis captured ; Columbia burned, f^l. Johnston sur- 
renders, 963. The assassination, 96.3. Andrew Johnson; Booth 
shot, 983. Mr. Lincoln, Grant and Sherman; Interview, 963. 
Last reviews; Union loss in the Rebellion, 964. Blockade raised; 
Old Flag on Sumter, 96.5. Amesty Proclamati!^Q; The Kearsarge 
and the Alabama, 966. Lord Joha Russell's Protest; Louis Napo- 
leon, 967. Article XIII. ; The Telegraph, 968. Reconstruction ; 
Article XIV. ; The Impeachment, 969. Presidential Election, 970. 

CHAPTER LXVL 

GRANT'S ADMIHISTRATIoil. 

Pacific Railway; Fifteenth Amendment, 971. Death of General Lee, 
9/2. State Rights Influence, 973. Alabama Claims, 974-76. Cen- 
sus of 1870 ; Election Law, 977. Centennial, 977-78. Presidential 
Election, 978. Influences binding the Union, 979-82. Conclusion ; 
Population, increase of, 982. Agricultural Products; Inventions, 
98.3. Immigrants; Homestead Bill; Cheap Lands, 984. Public 
School Funds, 985. Illiteracv of States compared, 986. The 
Newspapers, 986. Libraries, 987. Art; Temperance, 988. Indi- 
y?.'*"'!' Responsibility ; EngUsh Language, 989. Christianized 
CiviUzation, 990. 



XYUl CONTENTS- 
PAGE. 
Analytical Index 991 

APPENDIX. 

Constitution of the United States 1001 

PBESIDENTS OS THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 1015 

Dates of Declaration of Independence and Articles of Con- 
federation 1015 

Chief Justices of the U. S. Supreme Court 1015 

Presidents of the United States, with Dates of Administra- 
tion, Death, etc 1016 

Population of the Several States and Territories, Census of 

1870 1017 

Population of the Twenty Largest Cities 1018 



ILLUSTRATIOlsrS. 



ENQKAVED BY CHARLES SPBEGI/E, NEW YORK. 



1. Geobqe WASHrNGTON, FroTitispiece 

After Marshall's engiaviug of the Stuart portrait in the 
Boston Athenaeum, owned hy the Christian Union Pub- 
lishing Company. 

2. Christopher Columbus, to f nee p. 74 

The discoverer of the New World. From an ancient 
Italian engi-aving. 

3. AMEBiotrs VESPtroci, 74 

Whose published account of his voyages caused German 
geographers to name the new land " America." 

4. Sebastian Cabot, 74 

Who with his father, John, made the most direct and 
practioal discoveries of the American Continent. 

5. Petrus Stuyvesant, 75 

The last of the Dutch Governors of New Amsterdam, 
before it was ceded to the English and called New Tork. 

6. William Penn 75 

English Quaker and courtier, grantee of large lands in the 
New World, and founder of Pennsylvania. 

7. John Winthrop, 75 

English Justice of Peace, emigrant to America, perma- 
nent organizer and many yeai's Governor of the colony 
of Massachusetts Bay. 

8. Benjamin Franklin, 140 

Boston bom ; a Philadelphia and London printer; pliilos- 
opher, author, and statesman. 

9. Thomas Jefferson, 140 

Virginian delegate to Continental Congress; author of 
Declaration of Independence ; Vice-President and Presi- 
dent of United States. 

10. Alexander Hamilton, 140 

Officer of the Revolutionary army ; first Secretary of the 
United States Treasury ; high financial and Constitutional 
authority. 



XX ILLUSTRATIONS. 

H. John Withbrspoon, 141 

Scotchman ; descendant of John Knox; President Prince- 
ton College, New Jersey ; Coulinental Congressman from 
New Jersey ; a signer of the Declaration of Independence. 

13. Jonathan Edwards, 141 

Of Connecticut; celebrated theologian and metaphysi- 
cian ; pastor in Massachusetts ; President Princeton Col- 
lege, New Jersey; deeply influential in intellectual 
theology of New England. 

13. Lyman Beeoher, 141 

Of Connecticut; born 1775, died 1863; a renowned preacher 
and theological disputant; advocate of temperance move- 
ment ; pastor in New England and Long Island ; Presi- 
dent Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, O. 

14. James Otis, .310 

Massachusetts lawyer and orator. Fu-st public opponent 
of "British writs" in America. 

15. Patrick Hbnrt , 310 

Virginian lawyer and orator. Opponent of royal pre- 
rogative in American courts. 

16. Samttel Adams, 310 

Massachusetts lawyer. Early advocate of native rights of 
the American colonists. 

17. Nathaniel Greene, 311 

Washington's favorite General ; an officer of rare sagacity, 
skill and success. 

18. Anthonv Wayne, . . ' 311 

A natural soldier, of great daring, from which he was 
called " Mad Anthony." 

19. IsEABL Putnam, 311 

Of Connecticut ; one of the earliest and best known of the 
Revolutionary soldiers. - 

20. Robert Pulton, . . ' 410 

Pennsylvania; pupil of Sir Benjamin West, the painter; 
inventor of first successful steamboat ever launched. 

21. Samuel Pinley Breese Morse, 410 

Native of Massachusetts ; resident of New York ; inventor 
of first practical recording electric telegraph, 

23. Elias Howe 410 

Inventor of the sewing-machine needle, 

23. Daniel Webster, . - . 411 

Massachusetts lawyer. United States Senator, and orator. 



ILLTJSTKATIOIfS. XXl 

24. John Caldtveli. Calhoun 411 

United States Senator from South Carolina; Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States; Secretary of State; powerful 
orator; original advocate of doctrine of secession. 

25. Henky Clat 411 

United States Senator fi-om Kentucky; popular Whig 
leader; renowned orator. 

26. Washington Irving, 526 

Early and distinguished American author; man of great 
industry and laro graces of style. 

27. Jambs Fennimoke Cooper, 526 

Widely known as a novelist, especially of sea tales. 

38. Ralph Waldo Emekson, 526 

Philosoplier, Poet, Essayist, and general Author; a man 
of marked originality of thought; a leader in "liberal" 
as distiuguislietl from " ortliodox " views. 

29. William Wibt, 527 

Virginian lawyer of commanding forensic ability and 

success. 

30. Rtrpus Choate, 527 

Massaehuset' s lawyer, especially noted for power with 
juries. 

,S1. William Maxwell Evarts, 527 

New York lawyer; United Srates Attorney-General; 
counsel for United States in Alaljama Claims Interna- 
tional Commission; high authority in Cdn-stitutional, 
criminal, and commercial law; finished oratoi'. 

32. William Cullen Bryant, 642 

Journalist; editor New York Eveiiintj PuM : in 1876 the 
oldest living American poet; especially valued for poems 
of nature, and his admirable version of Homer. 

33. Henby Wadsworth Longfellow 642 

Professor of Scandinavian Literature in Harvard College ; 
tlie most i^opular American poet; translator of Dante. 

34. John Greenleaf Whittier. 642 

Quaker, of Massachusetts; essentially, the American poet 
of Freedom ; man of remarkable strength, purity and del- 
icacy of style. 

35. James Gordon Ben'nett, 643 

Scotchman ; founder and editor of New York Herald ; a 
gefiius for news gathering ; inventor of the (now common) 
condensed news-of-theday column. 



sxii ILLUSTEATIONS. 

36. Horace Greeley, 643 

Of New Hampshire; a printer by trade; founder and 
editor of New York Tribune ; foremost in all the social 
and i^olitical agitations of his lime, especially in the 
abolition of slavery. 

37. George Denison Prentice, 643 

Editor of Louisville Journal ; a keen writer, great wit, 
journalist of intluence and wide repute. 

38. Abraham Lincoln, 746 

Mississippi boatman ; Illinois lawyer aud politician; Pres- 
ident of the United States during the great Civil War; 
destroyer of slavery by military proclamation; victim of 
a fanatical assassin ; a man remembered and revered for 
his genius of common sense, patient practical statesman- 
ship, and unselflsli kindly nature. 

39. William Henry Seward, 746 

New Yorii lawyer and politician ; United Slates Senator ; 
Lincoln's Secretary of State during the Civil War. 

40. Edwin McMasters Stanton, 746 

Ohio lawyer; Buchanan's Seenjtary of State after de- 
parture of Davis, Floyd, and Toombs; Lincoln's Secretary 
of War from 18G2 to end of CivU War. 

41. Jefferson Davis, 747 

Of Mississippi ; United States army officer; United States 
Senator; cabinet officer; leader of Southern secession; 
President Confederate States. 

42. Robert Edward Lee, . • 747 

Of Virginia; United States army officer; commander of 
Confederate forces, especially " Army of Virginia '' ; a 
great soldier; after the Civil War, President Washington 
College, Lexington, Va. 

43. Thomas Jonathan Jackson, , . 747 

Of Virginia; United States army officer; Military Profes- 
sor at Lexington, Va. ; General in Coufederata army ; an 
officer of remarkable energy, persistency, rapidity of 
action, and success. 

44. Ulysses Simson Grant, 898 

Of Missouri; United States army officer; successful army 
commander in Western States during early part of Civil 
War; General of United States forces, and final conqueror 
of main Confederate forces; President of United States. 

45. William Tectmseh Sherman, 898 

Of Ohio; United Stite< army officer; military professor 
in Mississippi ; lirilUant and successful army commander 
of United States forces in West and South during Civil 
War; a soldier of great reputation. 



ILLUSTEATIOKS, MAPS AND CHARTS. ^^^^11 

46. Philip Henbt Sheridan 898 

United States army officer ; dashing cavalry general dur- 
ing Civil War. 

47. David Glascoe Fabrag0t, 899 

Of Tennessee; United Slates navy officer; midshipman 
at 11 years; was 60 years old when Civil War began; cap- 
tured New Orleans, Mobile, etc. ; Congress created grades 
ViceAdmiral and Admiral in his honor. 

48. David Dixon Porter, 899 

United States naval officer; midshipman at 16; successful 
commander during Civil War; succeeded Farragut as 
Vice-Admiral and Admiral. 

49. Andrew Huli, Foote, 899 

Of Connecticut; United States naval officer; promoted 
for gallantry in Chinese expedition, 1856; during Civil 
War conspicuous in Western gunboat service, especially 
the reduction of Forts Henry and Donaldson, Tenn. 



MAPS Al^I) CHAETS. 



ENGRAVED AND PREPARED ESPECIALLY FOR THIS VOLUME BY 
Q. W. i C. B. COLTON, NEW YORK. 



I. Chart, showing the routes of the principal voyages of dis- 
covery and adventure from the Old World to the New, 
giving the European ports of departure, names of com- 
manders, dates, etc., 20 

II. Map of the territory occupied by the United States, show- 
ing boundaries of the " Original Thirteen " as they stood 
at close of the Revolution ; also, subsequent cessions from 
States to the General Government, or from foreign Gov- 
ernments, with dates, giving an idea of the mode and 
rapidity of the territorial growth of the United States, . 514 

III. Map of the United States in 1876, revised and corrected 
according to the best authorities ; giving the dates of ad- 
mission of each State, and all important geographical 
details , . . 970 



A CONCISE HISTORY 



AMERICAN PEOPLE 



CHAPTER I. 

COLUMBUS. 

His Discoveries, Misfortunes, and Death. — Amerigo Vespucci, and the name 

America. 

For nearly fifteen hundred years after the birth of our chap 
Saviour, the great Western Continent was unknown to " 
the inhabitants of the Old World. liOi. 

The people of Ein'ope had looked upon the Atlantic 
Ocean as a boundless expanse of water, surrounding the 
land and stretching far away they knew not whither. 
This vast unknown, their imaginations had peopled with 
all sorts of terrible monsters, ever ready to devour those 
who should rashly venture among them. But the cloud 
of mystery and superstition that hung over this world of 
waters was now to be dispelled — a spirit of discovery was 
awakened in Europe. 

The Azores and Madeira Isles were already known. 
Mariners, driven out by adverse winds, had discovered 
them. Tradition told of islands still farther west, but as 
yet no one had gone in search of them. The attention of 
the people' of maritime Europe was turned in the opposite 
direction ; they wished to find a passage by water to the 
eastern coasts of Asia. The stories told by those early 
X 



2 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, travellers, Sir John Mandeville and Marco Polo, Lad 

fired their imaginations ; they believed that among those 

1492. distant regions of which they wrote, so abundant in pre- 
cious stones, diamonds, and gold, was the veritable 
land of Ophir itself Their intense desire to obtain the 
treasures of India, led to a result most important in the 
world's history — a result httle anticipated, but which was 
to have a never-ending influence upon- the destinies of 
the human family — the discovery of America. 

As God had ordered, there appeared at this time a 
remarkable man ; a man whose perseverance, no less than 
his genius, commands our respect. He was a native of 
Genoa, one of the great commercial cities of Italy. He 
had been from his childhood famUiar with the sea, and 
had visited the most distant portions of the world then 
known. His time and talents were devoted to the study 
of navigation, geography, and astronomy. He began to 
astonish his countrymen with strange notions about the 
world. He boldly asserted that it was round, instead oi 
flat ; that it went around the sun instead of the sun going 
around it ; and moreover, that day and night were caused 
by its revolution on its axis. These doctrines the priests 
denounced as contrary to those of the church. He could 
not convince these learned gentlemen by his arguments, 
neither could they silence him by their ridicule. When 
he ventured to assert that by sailing west, he could reach 
the East Indies, these philosophers questioned not only 
the soundness of his theory, but that of his intellect. For 
years he labored to obtain the means to explore the great 
western ocean, to prove that it was the pathway to the 
coveted treasures of the East. This remarkable man was 
Christopher Columbus. 

He applied first to John the Second, king of Portugal, 
to aid him in his enterprise, but without success ; he then 
applied to Henry the Seventh, king of England, with a 
similar result. After years of delay and disappointment, 



COLUMBUS SAILS FROM PALOS. O 

his project having been twice rejected by the Spanish chap. 

court, and he himself branded as a wild enthusiast, he sue- 

ceeded in enlisting in its favor the benevolent Isabella, 1402. 
Queen of Spain. She offered to pledge her private jewels 
to obtain means to defray the expenses of the expedition. 
Thus the blessings, which have accrued to the world from 
the discovery of America, may be traced to the beneficence 
of one of the noblest of women. 

A little more than three hundred and fifty years ago, 
on Friday, the 3d of August, 1492, Columbus sailed from 
the Httle port of Palos, in .Spain. . 

He confidently launched forth upon the unknown ocean. 
His three little vessels were mere sail-boats compared 
with the magnificent ships that now pass over the same 
waters. He sailed on and on, day after day, and at length 
came within tlie influence of the trade winds, which with- 
out intermission urged his vessels toward the west. The 
sailors began to fear— if these winds continued, they never 
could return. They noticed the variation of the compass ; 
it no longer pointed to the pole, — was this mysterious, but 
hitherto trusty friend, about to fail them .'' 

Ten weeks had already elapsed, and the winds were still 
bearing them farther and farther from their homes. It is 
true, there were many indications that land was near ; land 
birds were seen ;., land weeds, a bush with fresh berries 
upon it, and a cane curiously carved, were found floating in 
the water. Again and again, from those on the watch, 
was heard the cry of land, but as often the morning sun 
dispelled the illusion ; they had been deceived by the 
evening clouds that fringed the western horizon. Now, 
the sailors terror-stricken, became mutinous, and clamored 
to return. They thought they had sinned in venturing so 
far from land, and as a punishment were thus lured on to 
perish amid the dangers with which their imaginations had 
filled the waste of waters. 

Columbus alone was calm and hopeful ; in the midst 



4: HISTORY OF THE xVMEEICAU' PEOPLE. 

CHAP, of all these difficulties, he preserved the courage and noble 

self-control that so dignifies his character. Ilis confidence 

1492. in the success of his enterprise, was not the idle dream of 
a mere enthusiast ; it was foimded in reason, it was based 
on science. His courage was the courage of one, who, in 
the earnest pursuit of truth, loses sight of every personal 
consideration. He asked only for a little more time, that 
he might prove to others the truth of what he himself so 
firmly believed. When lo ! the following night the land 
breeze, fragrant with the perfiime of flowers, greeted them; 
r|£ver was it more grateful to .the worn and weary sailor. 
The ships were ordered to lie to, lest they should run upon 
rocks. Suddenly the ever watchful eye of Columbus saw 
a light, a moving light ! The alternations of hope and 
fear, the visions of fame and greatness, or the higher aspi- 
rations that may have filled his soul on that eventful night, 
are more easily imagined than described. 
Frid., The next morning, they saw lying before them in all 

j2 ' its luxuriant beauty an island, called by the natives Guan- 
ahani, but renamed by Columbus, San Salvador, or Holy 
Saviour. 

With a portion of his crew he landed. Falling on 
their knees, they offered thanksgivings to God, who had 
crowned their labors with success. 

Columbus raised a banner, and planted a cross, and 
thus took formal possession of the land in the names of his 
sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella. The awe-stricken 
natives watched the ceremony from amid the groves ; they 
thought the white strangers were the children of the sun, 
their great deity. Alas ! the cross did not prove to them 
the emblem of peace and good-will ! 

Columbus explored this island — one of the Bahama 

group — and discovered others, now known as the West 

Indies. Thus he spent three months ; then taking with 

him seven of the natives, he sailed for home. On the i5th 

I4'j3. of March he arrived at Palos. From that port to the court 



HIS THIRD VOYAGE. O 

at Barcelona, his progress was a triumphal procession. He chap. 

was graciously received by the King and Queen, who , 

appointed him Viceroy or Grovernor of all the countries he 1193. 
had or should discover. They conferred upon him and his 
family" titles of nobility, and permission to use a coat of 
arms. The day he made his discovery, was the day of liis 
triumph ; this day was the recognition of it by his patrons 
and by the world. His past Hfe had been one of unremit- 
ting toil and hope deferred ; but in the future were 
bright prospects for himself and his family. But his 
title, the object of his honorable ambition, proved the 
occasion of all his after sorrows. The honors so justly 
conferred upon him, excited the jealousy of the Spanish 
nobility. 

From this time his life was one continued contest with 
his enemies. He made more voyages, and more discoveries 
in the West Indies. On his third voyage he saw the main- 1498. 
land at the mouth of the Orinoco. It seems never to have 
occurred to him, that a river so large must necessarily 
drain a vast territory. He supposed the lands he had dis- 
covered were islands belonging to Cathay, or Farther 
India ; from this circumstance the natives of the New 
World were called Indians. It is more than probable 
Columbus died without knowing that he had found a 
great continent. 

After a few years his enemies so far prevailed, that on 
a false accusation he was sent home in chains from the 
island of Hispaniola. Isabella, indignant at the treat- 
ment he had received, ordered them to be taken off, and 
all his rights and honors restored. Ferdinand promised to 
aid her in rendering him justice, and in punishing his ene- 
mies ; but, double-dealing and ungenerous, he did neither. 
To the misfortunes of Columbus was added the death of 
Isabella, his kind and generous patroness. And now he 
was openly maligned and persecuted. Their work was soon 
done ; in a short time he died, worn out by disease and 



6 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, disappointment. His last words were : " Into thy handSj 

Lord, I commend my spirit." 

1506. His body was deposited in a convent in Spain. Fer- 

dinand, it is said, ordered a monument to his memory 
The justice he had denied him in life he was willing tc 
inscribe ujDon his tomb, — it was to bear the inscription : 
" Columbus has given a world to Castile and Leon." 

The body of Columbus was afterwards conveyed to 
Hispaniola. After a lapse of almost three hundred years 
that island passed into the hands of the French. Gene- 
rations had come and gone, but the Spanish nation re- 
membered that Columbus had " given a world to Castile 
and Leon ; " and they wished to retain his remains within 
their own territories. They disinterred them, and with 
imposing ceremonie's transferred them to Havana in the 

1795, island of Cuba, where they still remain. 

About seven years after the first voyage of Columbus, 
Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine gentleman, visited the 
West Indies, and also landed on the eastern coast of South 
America. On his return he published a glowing descrip- 
tion of the newly discovered countries. From this cir- 
cumstance the name America was given to the New 
World by a German writer on Geography, who may have 
been ignorant of the claims of Columbus. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ABORIGINES. 

In the earliest ages of the world the ancient inhabit- ^^p- 

ants of America may have come from Asia. The prox- 

imity of the two continents in the vicinity of Behriag's 
Straits and the Aleutian Isles, renders such an emigration 
comparatively easy. There is reason to believe the people 
found here by Europeans, were not the original inhabit- 
ants of the land. 

Throughout the continent, more especially in the val- 
ley of the Mississippi, are found monuments of a race 
more ancient, — mounds and enclosures of great extent, — 
the work, not of roving savages, but of a people who lived 
in settled habitations, it may be, as prosperous and peace- 
ful cultivators of the soil. To build these immense 
monuments, the materials of which were frequently 
brought from a distance, required the labor and toil of a 
numerous population. Perhaps in the vicinity of these 
works, villages and cities once stood. The enclosures 
were used either as places of defence, or for purposes of 
worship, and perhaps for both ; the mounds evidently as 
places of burial for kings or chiefs. 

The antiquary finds here no inscriptions, which, like 
those found on the plains of Shinar or in the valley of the 
Nile, can unfold the mysteries of bygone centuries. He 
finds only the scattered remnants of vessels of earthen- 



8 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, ware, rude weapons of warfare, axes made of stone, and 

, . ornaments worn only by a people rude and uncultivated. 

How much of happiness or of misery this ancient people 
experienced during those many ages, none can tell. In an 
evil hour came some dire calamity. It may have been 
civil war, which in its path spread desolation far and wide ; 
blotted out their imperfect civilization, and drove the more 
peaceful inhabitants further south, where they fotmded the 
empires of Mexico and Peru ; while those who remained 
degenerated into roving savages, and converted those fer- 
tile plains into hunting-grounds. Or may we not rather 
suppose that centuries after the first emigration, there came 
another from the same mother of nations, Asia ; — that the 
latter were warlike savages, who lived not by cultivating 
the soil but by hunting ; — that these invaders drove the 
peaceful inhabitants of that beautiful region to the far 
south, and took possession of the conquered land as their 
own home and hunting-ground? 

Travellers have noticed the near resemblance of the 
aborigines of North America to the people of north- 
eastern Asia, not only in their customs but in their 
physical appearance. " The daring traveller Ledyard, as 
he stood in Siberia with men of the Mongolian race before 
him, and compared them with the Indians who had been 
his old play-fellows and school-mates at Dartmouth, writes 
deliberately that, 'universally and circumstantially they 
resemble the aborigines of America.' On the Connecticut 
and the Obi, he saw but one race." ' 

More than two thousand years ago, Herodotus wrote in 
his history, that the Scythians practised the custom of 
scalping their enemies slain in battle ; that the warrior 
. preserved these scalps as the evidence of his bravery, and 
used them to decorate his tent and the trappings of his 
horse. The wonderful skill of these Scythians in han- 

' Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. III., page SI 8. 



INDIANS FOUR DIVISIONS. 9 

tiling the bow and arrow was proverbial in ancient times ^^f-^ 

Who can teU but the ancestors of the aborigines of America 

came from Scythia, and brought with them their skill in 
using the bow and arrow, and the singular custom of 
scaljjing ? 

Of the North American Indians there were four general 
divisions ; these occupied as many separate portions of the 
United States and Canada. The Algonquin branch, with 
its various tribes, claimed the territory extending from the 
north of Maine to Cape Fear, thence to the Mississippi, and 
north of the great lakes to the vicinity of Hudson Bay ; 
their territory completely encircled that claimed by their 
enemies, the powerful Huron-Iroquois, whose central por- 
tion was along the north shores of the Lakes Erie and 
Ontario, beyond Georgian bay of Lake Huron, and almost 
to the Ottawa river, and south of the same lakes to the 
waters of the Ohio and the Susquehannah, and from the 
west end of Lake Erie to Lake Champlain and the Hud- 
son. The Mobilian branch extended from Cape Fear to 
the south point of Florida ; west along the north shores 
of the Gulf of Mexico to the Mississippi ; north as far as 
the Tennessee river and the southern spurs of the Cum- 
berland mountains. West of the Mississippi were the roving 
tribes of the Dahcotahs, or Sioux. 

As the natives of these difterent pertions of the conti- 
nent closely resembled each other in physical constitution 
and personal appearance, the first explorers supposed they 
were one and the same people ; but when their languages 
became better known, ethnologists classified them as dif- 
ferent branches of the same great family. In earlier ages 
they may have been one people, speaking the same lan- 
guage ; afterward, revengeful wars, unrelentingly waged 
for ages, separated them. Each little tribe or family wan- 
dered alone ; as differing circumstances and necessities re- 
quired, they added new words to the original language ; 
thus were formed dialects, which philologists have par- 



10 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

"^^11^' ^'^^V traced, and which apparently lead to the same mother 

tongue. 

Their mode of living, customs, and religious belief were 
also similar ; their houses, or wigwams, were formed of 
poles placed in the ground, and bent toward each other at 
the top, and covered with birch or chestnut bark ; they 
dressed in the skins of animals ; wore as ornaments the 
feathers of the eagle and the claws of the bear, — trophies 
of their skill as hunters, — and valued more than all the 
scalps of their enemies ; proofs of their bravery and success 
in war. 

They believed in a Great Spirit that pervaded all 
things ; their heaven lay away beyond the mountains of 
the settinsc sun : it was a land of bright meadows and 
crystal springs, a happy hunting-ground stocked with wild 
animals, where the Indian hunter after death enjoyed 
the chase, and never suffered cold, nor thirst, nor hunger 
more. 

Note. — As the several tribes of Indians come within the scope of thia 
history they will be further noticed. 



CHAPTER III. 

SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. 

South Sea. — First Voyage round the 'World. — Ponce de Leon. — Florida, 
Discovery and Attempt to settle. — Vasquez de Ayllon. — Conquest of 
Mexico and Peru. 



CHAP 
III. 



In a few years the Spaniards subdued and colonized the 
most important islands of the West Indies. The poor 
timid natives were either murdered or reduced to slavery. 150C 
Unheard-of cruelties in a short time wasted, and almost 
exterminated the entire race. 

Not satisfied with the possession of these islands, the 
Spaniards made further discoveries from time to time 
around the Gulf of Mexico ; they explored the southern 
part of the peninsula of Yucatan ; they planted a colony 
on the narrow Isthmus of Darien. Until this time, no 1510, 
settlement had been made on the Western Continent. 

When in search of gold, Nunez de Balboa, the govern- 
or of this colony, made an exploring tour into the interior, 
he ascended a "high mountain, and fi'om its top his eyes 
were greeted with the sight- of a vast expanse of water 
extending away to the south, as far as the eye could reach. 
He called it the South Sea. But seven years later, Magel- 1520, 
Ian, a Portuguese mariner in the service of Spain, passed 
through the dangerous and stormy Straits which bear his 
name ; and sailing out into the great field of waters, found 
it so calm, so free from storms, that he called it the Pacific 
or peaceful ocean. Magellan died on the voyage, but his 
ship reached the coast of Asia, and thence returned home 



12 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, to Spain by the Cape of Good Hope, thus realizing the 

vision of Columbus, that the world was a globe, and could 

1512. be sailed round. 

Juan Ponce de Leon, a former governor of Porto Rico, fit- 
ted out at his own expense three ships to make a voyage 
of discovery. He had heard from the natives of Porto Eico 
that somewhere in the Bahama Islands, was a fountain 
that would restore to the vigor of youth all those who 
should drink of its waters or bathe in its stream. This 
absurd story many of the Spaniards believed, and none 
more firmly than De Leon. He was an old man, and 
anxious to renew his youthful j)leasures ; with eager hopes 
he hastened in search of the marvellous fountain. 

He did not find it, but in coasting along to the west of 
the islands, he came in sight of an unknown country. It 
appeared to bloom with flowers, and to be covered with 
magnificent forests. As this country was first seen on 
Easter Sunday, which the Spaniards call Pascua Florida, 
he named it Florida. With great difficulty he landed to 
the north of where St. Augustine now stands, and took 
formal possession of the country in the name of the Spanish 
sovereign. He sailed to the south along the unknown and 
dangerous coast, around the extreme point. Cape Florida, 
and to the south-west among the Tortugas islands. He 
received for his services the honor of being appointed Gov- 
* ernor of Florida by the King of Spain, — rather an expen- 
sive honor, being based on the condition that he should 
colonize the country. 

A year or two afterward, he attempted to plant a 
colony, but found the natives exceedingly hostile. They 
attacked him and his men with great fury — many were 
killed, the rest were forced to flee to their ships, and Ponce 
de Leon himself was mortally wounded. He had been a 
soldier of Spain ; a companion of Columbus on his second 
voyage ; had been governor of Porto Eico, where he had 
oppressed the natives with great cruelty ; he had sought 



VASQUEZ DE AYLLON. 13 

an exemption from the ills of old age ; had attempted to ciiai' 

found a colony and gain the immortality of fame. But he 

returned to Cuba to die, without planting his coloay or 1512 
drinking of the fountain of youth. 

About this time was made the first attempt to obtain 
Indians from the Continent as slaves to work in the mines 
and on the plantations of Hispaniola or St. Domingo. The 
ignominy of this attempt belongs to a company of seven 
men, the most distinguished of whom was Lucas Vasquez 
de Ayllon. They went first to the Bahama Islands, from 
these they passed to th,e coast of the present State of South 
Carolina, landing at or near St. Helena Sound. 

The natives of this region knew not as yet what they 
had to fear from Europeans. They were, however, shy at 
first, but after presents had been distributed among them, 
they received tlie strangers kindly. They were invited to 
visit the ships. Curiosity overcame their timidity, and 
they went on board in crowds. The treacherous Spaniards 
immediately set sail for St. Domingo, reg3,rdless of the 
sorrows they inflicted upon the victims of their cruelty and 
avarice. Thus far their plot was successful ; soon how- l5-i(i. 
ever a storm arose, and one of the ships went down with 
all on board ; sickness and death carried off many of the 
captives on the other vessel. Such outrages upon the na- 
tives were common ; and instead of being condemned and 
punished, they were commended. Vasquez went to Spain, 
boasting of his expedition as if it had been praiseworthy. 
As a reward, he received from the Spanish monarch a 
commission to conquer the country. 

When he had expended his fortune in preparations, he 
set sail, and landed upon the coast. Bitter wrongs had 
been inflicted upon the natives, and their spirit was roused. 
They attacked him with great vigor, killed nearly all 
his men, and forced him to give up the enterprise. It is 
said that grief and disappointment hastened the death of 
Vasquez. 



14 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. The Spaniards were more successful elsewhere. The 
explorers of the west coast of the Gulf had heard of the 

1520. famed empire of Mexico and its golden riches. As evi- 
dence of the truth of these marvellous stories, they exhib- 
ited the costly presents given them by the unsuspecting 
natives. Under the lead of Fernando Cortez, six hun- 
dred and seventeen adventurers invaded the empire ; and 
though they met with the most determined resistance, in 
the end Spanish arms and skill prevailed. Defeated at 
every point, and disheartened at the death of their em 

1521. peror, Montezuma, the Mexicans submitted, and their em- 
1821. pire became a province of Spain. Just three hundred 

years from that time, the province threw off the Sjianish 
yoke, and became a republic. 

Kumor told also of the splendor and wealth of a great 
empire lying to the south, known as Peru. Pizarro, 
another daring adventurer, set out from Panama with only 
one hundred foot soldiers and sixty-seven horsemen to in- 
vade and conquer it. After enduring toil and labors 
almost unparalleled, he succeeded ; and that empire, con- 
taining millions of inhabitants, wealthy, and quite ci^ilized, 
15S1. ^^s reduced to a province. Pizarro founded Lima, which 
became his capital. He oppressed the natives with great 
cruelty, and accumulated unbounded vrealth drawn' from 
mines of the precious metals, but after a rule of nine years 
he fell a victim to a conspiracy. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ENGLISH AND FKENCH DISCOVERIES. 

John Cabot discovers the American Continent. — Enterprise of his sou Se- 
bastian. — Voyages of Verrazzani and Cartier. — Attempts at Settlement. 

Whilst these discoveries, conquests, and settlements chap. 

were in proCTess in the South, a series of discoveries was '__ 

going on in the North. 1497- 

John Cabot, a native of Venice, residing, as a merchant, 
in Bristol, in the West of England, made application to 
Henry VII., the reigning sovereign, for permission to go 
en a voyage of discovery. The king gave to Cabot and 
his three sons a patent, or commission, granting them cer- 
tain privileges. This is said to be the most ancient state 
paper of England relating to America. 

As Henry VII. was proverbially prudent in money 
matters, he would not aid the Cabots by sharing with 
them the expense of the expedition, but he was careful to 
bind them to land, on their return, at the port of Bristol, 
and pay him one-fifth part of the profits of their trade. 
They were, in the name of the king, to take possession of 
all the territories they should discover, and to have the ex- 
clusive privilege of trading to them. 

Bristol, at this time, was the greatest commercial town 
in the Wfest of England, .and had .trained up multitudes 
of hardy seamen. These seamen had become habituated 
to the storms of the ocean, by battling tempests in the 
Northern seas around Iceland, in their yearly fishing ex- 
cursions. ^ is quite probable they had there heard the 



16 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAX PEOPLE. 

CHAP, tradition, that at a remote period the Icelanders had dis- 

, '_ covered a country to the west of their island. 

1497. Cabot and his son Sebastian sailed almost due west, 

and before long discovered the American continent, it is 
supposed near the fiftj^-sixth degree of north latitude. 
What must have been their surprise to find, in the lati- 
tude of England, a land dreary with snow and ice, barren 
rocks, frowning cliffs, polar bears, and wild savages ! This 
discovery was made more than a year before Columbus, on 
his third voyage, saw the South American coast, at the 
morith of the Orinoco. 

Thus the Western continent was discovered by pri- 
vate enterprise alone. The next year a voyage was under- 
taken for the i^urposes of trade, and also to ascertain 
if the country was suitable for making settlements. The 
king now ventured to become a partner in the speculation, 
and defrayed some of the expense. Sebastian Cabot sailed, 
with a company of three hundred men. for Labrador, and 
landed still further north than at his first voyage. The 
severity of the cold, though it was the commencement of 
summer, and the barrenness of the country, deterred him 
from remaining any length of time. He sailed to the 
South and explored the coast, till want of provisions forced 
him to return home. The family of the Cabots derived 
no benefit from their discovery, as the trade to those barren 
regions amounted to nothing. 

It is a matter of regret that so little is known of the 
many voyages of Sebastian Cabot. Around his name there 
lingers a pleasing interest. He is represented as being 
very youthful, not more than twenty years of age, when 
he went on his first voyage. Mild and courteous in 
his manners ; determined in purpose, and persevering 
in execution ; with a mind of extraordinary activity ; 
daring in his entei-prises, but never rash or imprudent ; 
he won the hearts of his sailors by his kindness, and 
commanded their respect by his skill. Such was the 



VOYAGE OF VERRAZZANI. 17 

man who, for more than fifty years, was the foremost iu chap. 

maritime adventure. He explored tlie eastern coast of 

South America ; sailed within twenty degrees of the North 140T, 
Pole, in search of the North-Western passage ; and at dif- 
ferent times explored the eastern coast of this continent, 
fiom Hudson's straits to Albemarle sound. 

The Cabots had noticed the immense shoals of fish 1524 
which frequented the waters around Newfoundland. The 
English prosecuted these fisheries, but to no great extent, 
as they continued to visit the Icelandic seas. French fish- 
ermen, however, availed themselves of the way opened by 
their rivals, and prosecuted them with great vigor. Plans 
for planting colonies in those regions were often proposed 
in France, yet nothing was done beyond the yearly visits 
of the fishermen. Francis I. was finally induced to attempt ' 
further explorations. For this purpose he cmjdoyed Ver- 
razzani, a native of Florence, in Italy, a navigator of some 
celebrity, to take charge of an expedition. This was the 
first voyage, for the purpose of discovery, undertaken at 
the expense of the French government. 

Verrazzani sailed south to tlie Madeira Isles, and thence 
due west, in quest of new countries. On the passage he' 
battled a terrible tempest, but at length saw land in the 
latitude of Wilmington, North Carolina. No good har- 
bor could be found as he coasted along to the south for 
one hundred and fifty miles. Then turning north, he cast 
anchor from time to time and explored the coast. The 
surprise of the natives and that of the voyagers was mu- 
tual ; the one wondered at the white strangers, their ships 
and equipments ; the other at the " russet color" of the 
simple natives ; their dress of skins set off with various rude 
ornaments and gaudy-colored feathers. The imagination 
of the voyagers had much to do with the report they made 
of their discoveries. Tlie groves, they said, bloomed with 
flowers, whose fragrance greeted them far from the shore, 



18 HISTOET OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 

CHAP, reminding them of the spices of the East ; the reddish 

'_ color of the earth was, no doubt, caused by gold. 

15'24. The explorers examined careluUy the spacious harbors 

of New York and Newport ; in the latter they remained 
fifteen days. They noticed the fine personal appearance 
of the natives, who were hospitable, but could not be in- 
duced to trade, and appeared to be ignorant of the use of 
iron. They continued their voyage along the then name- 
less shores of New England to Nova Scotia, and still fur- 
ther north. There the natives were hostile ; they had 
learned, by sad experience, the cruelty and treachery of 
white men. Caspar Cortereal, a Portuguese, some years 
before, had visited their coast, stolen some of their friends, 
and sold them into slavery. They were willing to trade 
for instruments of iron or steel, but were very cautious, 
fearful of being again entrapped. 

After his return, Verrazzani published a narrative of 
his voyage, giving much more information of the country 
than had hitherto been known. On the ground of his dis- 
coveries, France laid claim to the territory extending from 
South Carolina to Newfoundland. 

1534. Ten years after, an expedition was sent, under James 

Cartier, a mariner of St. Malo, to make further discoveries, 
with the ultimate design of founding a colony. His voyage 
was very successful ; he reached Newfoundland in twenty 
days ; passed through the Straits of Belleisle ; sailed to the 
south-west across a gulf and entered a bay ; which, from 
the extreme heat of the weather, he named Des Chaleurs. 
Coasting along still further west, he landed at the inlet 
called Gaspe, where he took formal possession of the coun- 
try, in the name of his sovereign. This he did by plant- 
ing a cross, surmounted by the lilies of France, nnd bear- 
ing a suitable inscription. Continuing his course still 
further west, he entered the moiith of a great estuary, into 
w^hich he ascertained flowed an immense river, larger by 
far than any river in Europe. These explorations were 



VOYAGE OF CAETIER. 19 

made during the montlis of July and August. It ivas now chap. 
necessary for him to retirrn home. 

His account of the chmate as " hotter than that of 1534. 
Spain," and of the country as " the fairest that can pos- 
sibly he found ;" of its " sweet-smelling trees ;" of its 
" strawberries, blackberries, prunes and wild corn ;" its 
" figs, apples and other fruits," together with his descrip- 
tion of the great gulf and noble river, excited in France 
the most intense interest. 

Immediately plans were devised to colonize the coun- 
try. The court entered into the scheme. Some of the 
young nobility volunteered to become colonists. By the 
following May the arrangements were completed. Cartier, 
" who was very religious," first conducted his company to 
the cathedral, where they received the bishop's blessing, 
then set sail, with high hopes of founding a State in what 
was then called New France. 

After a somewhat stormy passage, he reached the 
northern part of the gulf, on the day of St. Lawrence the 1535. 
Martyr, in honor of whom it was named — in time, the 
name was applied to river also. 

The strangers were received hospitably by the natives. 
Cartier ascended the river in a boat to an island, on which 
was the principal Indian settlement. It was in the mild 
and pleasant month of September. He ascended a hiU, at 
the foot of which lay the Indian village; he was enraptur- 
ed by the magnificent scene ; the river before him evidently 
drained a vast territory ; the natives told him " that it 
went so far to the west, that they had never heard of any 
man who had gone to the head of it." He named the hiU 
Mont-Real, Royal-Mount ; a name since transferred to the 
island, and to the city. 

This country was in the same latitude with France ; he 
thought its climate must be equally mild, its soil equally 
fertile ; and that it might become the home of a happy and 
industrious people, and this beautiful island the centre of 



20 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAJ^^ PEOPLE. 

CHAP, an almost unhounded commerce. He did not know that 
God had sent the warm waters 6f the sonth through the 

1535. Gulf Stream to the west of Europe ; that they warmed 
the bleak west winds, and made the delightful climate of 
his native France different from that in the same latitude 
in North America.' 

A rigorous winter dissipated his visions. His honest 
narrative of the voyage, and of the intense coldness of the 
climate, deterred his countrymen from making further 
attempts to colonize the country. There was no gold nor 
silver to he found — no mines of precious stones. What 
inducement was there for them to leave their fertile and 
beautiful France, with its mild and healthful climate, to 
shiver on the banks of the St. Lawrence ? 

1540. Thus it remained for four years. Among many who 

thought it unworthy a great nation not to found a State 
on the shores of the magnificent gulf and river of the New 
World, was a nobleman of Picardy, Francis de la Roque, 
lord of Eoberval. He obtained a commission from Fran- 
cis I. to plant 3: colony, with full legal authority as viceroy 
over the territories and regions on or near the Gulf and 
River of St. Lawrence. These were to be known in his- 
tory under the ambitious name of Norimbega. 

Gartier was induced by Roberval to receive a commission 
as chief pilot of the expedition. They did not act in con- 
cert; both were tenacious of honor and authority, and they 
were jealous of each other. 

15iO. Cartier sailed the following spring, passed up the river, 

and built a fort near where Quebec now stands. To estab- 
lish a prosperous colony, virtue, industry, and perseverance 
must be found in the colonists. The first enterprise, com- 

' "The quantity of beat dischargeJ over the Atlantic from the waters 
of the Gulf Stream in a winter's day, would be sufficient to raise the whole 
column of atmosphere that rests upon France and the British Isles, from the 
freezing point to summer heat." 

Manri/'s Physical Goriniphy of the Sea, p 61. 








■^ c A'Ji I ^ 'B-'s A. la'' s i: A 

' tBarlia«iDes 




jde 40 West from 30 Greenwich 20 



ATTE3IPTS AT SETTLEMENT. 21 

posed of young uoLlemeD and amateur colonists, failed, as chap. 

might have been expected. In the second attempt they . L 

went to the other extreme, — the colonists were criminals, 1.342. 
drawn from the prisons of France. 

During the winter Cartier hung one of them for theft ; 
put some in irons ; and whipped others, men and women, 
for minor faults. In the spring, just as Eoberval himself 
arrived with a reinforcement, he slipped off to France, 
heartily disgusted with his winter's occupation. Eoberval 
remained about a year, and then returned home, perfectly 
willing to resign the viceruyalty of Norimbega, and retire 
to his estates in Picardy. After a lapse of fifty years, a 
successful attempt was made by the French to colonize the 
same territory. 



CHAPTEE V. 

DE SOTO AND THE MISSISSIPPI. 

CHAP. The name Florida was given by the Spaniards to the 
" entire southern portion of the United States. Their at- 



1539. tempts to conquer this territory had hitherto failed. For 
some unexplained reason, the most exaggerated stories 
were told of the richness of the country ; there was no evi- 
dence of their truth, yet they were implicitly believed. 

The success of Cortez in conquering Mexico, and of 
Pizarro in conquering Peru, excited the emulation of 
Ferdinand de Soto. He had been a companion of Pizarro ; 
had gained honor by his valor, and, in accordance with the 
morals of the times, had accumulated an immense amount 
of wealth by various means of extortion. Still it must be 
said in his favor, that he was, by far, the most humane of 
any of the Spanish officers who pillaged Mexico and 
Peru. Fofeseeing the endless quarrels and jealousies of 
the Spaniards in Peru, he prudently retired to Spain with 
his ill-gotten gains. 

Ambition did not permit him to remain long in retire- 
ment. He panted for a name, for military glory, to sur- 
pass the two conquerors of the New World. He asked 
permission to conquer Florida, at his own expense. The 
request was graciously granted by the Emperor, Charles V. 
He also received an honor much more grateful to his am- 
bition ; he was appointed Governor of Cuba, and of all the 
countries he should conquer. 



THE LANDING AT TAMPA BAY. 23 

The announcement that he was about to embark on chap. 

this enterprise, excited in Spain the highest hopes, — hopes . 

of military glory and of unbounded wealth. Enthusiastic 1539. 
men said these hopes must be realized ; there were cities 
. in the interior of Florida as rich, if not richer than those 
of Mexico or Peru ; temples equally splendid, to be plun- 
dered of their golden ornaments. Volunteers offered in 
crowds, many of noble birth, and all })roud to be led by so 
renowned a chief. From these numerous applicants De 
Soto chose six hundred men, in " the bloom of life." The 
enthusiasm was so great, that it appeared more like a 
holiday excursion than a military expedition. 

He sailed for Cuba, where he was received with great 
distinction. Leaving his wife to govern the island, he 
sailed for Florida, and landed at Espiritu Santo, now Tampa 
bay. He never harbored the thought that his enterprise 
could fail. He sent his ships back to Cuba ; thus, in imi- 
tation of Cortez, he deprived his followers of the means to 
return. Volunteers in Cuba had increased his army to 
nearly one thousand men, of whom three hundred were 
horsemen, all well armed. Every thing was provided that 
De Soto's foresight and experience could suggest ; ample 
stores of provisions, and for future supplies, a drove of 
swine, for which Indian corn and the fruits of the forest 
would furnish an abundance of food. The company was 
provided with cards, that they might spend their " leisure 
time in gaming ;" a dozen of priests, that the " festivals of 
the church might be kept," and her ceremonies rigidly per- 
formed ; chains for the captive Indians, and bloodhounds, 
to track and tear them in pieces, should they attempt to 
escape ; — incongruities of which the adventurers seemed 
unconscious. 

They now commenced their march through pathless • 
forests. The Indian guides, who had been kidnapped on 
former invasions, soon learned that they were in search of • 

gold. Anxious to lead them as far as possible from the 



24: HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CRAP, neigliborliood of their own tribes, they humored their fau- 

cies, and told them of regions far away, where the precious 

15i0. metal was abundant. In one instance they pointed to the 
north-east, where they said the people understood the art 
of refining it, and sent them away over the rivers and 
plains of Georgia. It is possible they may have referred 
to the gold region of North Carolina. 

When one of the guides honestly confessed that ha 
knew of no such countiy, De Soto ordered him to be burned 
for telling an untruth. From this time onward the 
guides continued to allure the Spaniards on in search of 
a golden region, — a region they were ever approaching, but 
never reached. 

At length the men grew weary of wandering through 
forests and swamps ; they looked for cities, rich and 
splendid, they found only Indian towns, small and poor, 
whose finest buildings were wigwams. They wished to 
return ; but De Soto was determined to proceed, and his 
faithful followers submitted. They i)illaged tlie Indians 
of their jarovisions, thus rendered them hostile, and many 
conflicts ensued. They treated their captives with great 
barbarity ; wantonly cut off their hands, burned them at 
the stake, suffered them to be torn in pieces by the blood- 
hounds, or chained them together with iron collars, and 
compelled them to carry their baggage. 

They moved toward the south-west, and came into the 
neighborhood of a large walled town, named Mavilla, since 
Mobile. It was a rude town, but it afforded a better shel- 
ter than the forests and the open plains, and they wished 
to occupy it. The Indians resisted, and a fierce battle 
ensued. The Spanish cavalry gained a victory, — a. victory 
dearly bought ; the town was burned, and with it nearly 
, aU their baggage. 

Meantime, according to appointment, ships from Cuba 

, had arrived at Pensacola. De Soto would not confess that 

he had thus far failed ; he would send no news until he 



DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIl'PI. 26 

had rivalled Cortez in military renown. They now directed chap. 

their course to the north-west, and spent the following -^vin- 

ter in the northern part of the State of Mississippi. From 1540. 
the Indian corn in the fields they obtained food, and made 
their winter quarters in a deserted town. When spring 
returned, a demand was made of the Chickasaw chief to 
furnish men to carry their baggage. The indignant chief 
refused. The hostile Indians deceived the sentinels, and 
in the night set fire to the village and attacked the Span- 
iards, but after a severe contest they were repulsed. It 
was another dear victory to the invaders ; the little 
they had saved from the flames at Mobile was now con- 
sumed. This company, once so " brilliant in silks and 
glittering armor," were now scantily clothed in skins, and 
mats made of ivy. 

Again they commenced their weary wanderings, and 
before many days found themselves on the banks of the 
Mississippi. De Soto expressed no feelings of pleasure or 
of admiration at the discovery of the magnificent river, 
with its ever-flowing stream of turbid waters. Ambition 
and avarice consume the finer feelings of the soul ; they 
destroy the appreciation of what is noble in man and 
beautiful in nature. De Soto was only anxious to cross 
the river, and press on in search of cities and of gold. A 1541, 
month elapsed before boats could be built to transport the 
horses. • At length they were ready,, and white men, for 
the first time, launched forth upon the Father of Waters. 

The natives on the west bank received the strangers 
kindly, and gave them presents. The Indians of southern 
Missouri supposed them to be superior beings — children of 
the sun — and they brought them their blind to be restored 
to sight. De Soto answered them, " The Lord made tlie 
heavens and the earth : pray to Him only for whatsoever 
ye need." Here they remained forty days ; sent out ex- 
plorers further north, who reported that buffaloes were so 
numerous in that region that corn could not be raised ; 



26 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, that the inhabitants were few, and lived by hunting 
. They wandered two hundred miles further west ; then 

1541. turned to the south, and went nearly as far, among In- 
dians who were an agricultural people, living iu villages, 
and subsisting upon the produce of the soil. 

In this region another winter was passed. It was now 
almost three years since De Soto had landed at Tampa 
bay. With all his toil and suffering, he had accomplished 

1542. nothing. In the sj^ring, he descended the Wachita to 
the Red river, and thence once more to the Mississippi. 
There he learned that the country, extending to the sea, 
was a waste of swamps, where no man dwelt. 

His cup of disappointment was full ; his pride, which 
had hitherto sustained him, must confess that his enter- 
prise had been a failure. He had set out with higher 
hopes than any Spanish conqueror of the New World ; 
now his faithful band was wasted by disease and death. 
He was far from aid ; a deep gloom settled upon his spirit ; 
his soul was agitated by a conflict of emotions ; a violent 
fever was induced ; and when sinking rapidly, lie called 
his followers around him, they, faithful to the last, im- 
plored him to appoint a successor : he did so. The next 
day De Soto was no more. His soldiers mourned for him ; 
the priests performed his funeral rites ; with sad hearts 
they wrapped his body in a mantle, and, at the silent hour 
of midnight, sunk it beneath the waters of the Mississippi. 

His followers again wandered for awhile, in hopes of 
getting to Mexico. Finally they halted upon the banks of 
the Mississippi ; erected a forge ; struck the fetters off 
their Indian captives, and made the iron into nails to build 
boats ; killed their horses and swine, and dried their flesh 
for i^rovisions. When the boats were finished they 
launched them upon the river, and floated down its 
stream to the Gulf of Mexico. 
1672. After the lapse of one hundred and thirty years, the Mis- 

sissippi was again visited by white jnen of another nation. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE REFORMATION AND ITS EFFECTS. 

From this period we find interwoven with the early Ids- chap. 
tory of our country a class of 2ierson3 who were not mere • 
adventurers, seekers after gold or fame — but who sought ^gj^^ 
here a home, where they might enjoy civil and religious 
liberty, and who held the principles of which we see the 
result in the institutions of the United States, so diflerent 
in some respects from those of any other nation. This differ- 
ence did not spring from chance, but was the legitimate ef- 
fect of certain influences. What has made this younger 
member of the great family of governments to difler so much 
from the others .'' What were the principles, what the in- 
fluences, which produced such men and women as our 
revolutionary ancestors ? The world has never seen their 
equals for self-denying patriotism ; for enlightened views 
of government, of religious liberty, and of the rights of con- 
science. 

When great changes are to be introduced among the 
nations of the earth, God orders the means to accomplish 
them, as well as the end to be attained. He trains the 
people for the change. He not only prepared the way for 
the discovery of this continent, but for its colonization by 
a Christian people. Fifty years before the first voyage of 
Columbus, the art of printing was invented — and twenty- 
five years after the same voyage, commenced the Reforma- 
tion in Germany under Martin Luther. The art of print- 
ing, by multiplying books, became the means of diffusing 



28 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN' PEOPLE. 

CHAP, knowledge among men, and of awakening the human mind 

from the sleep of ages. One of the consequences of this 

1517. awakening, was the Reformation. The simple truths of 
the Gospel had heen ohscured hy the teachings of men. 
The decrees of the church had drawn a veil between the 
throne of God and the human soul. The priesthood had 
denied to the people the right of studying for themselves 
the word of God. The views of the Eefbrnlers were the 
reverse of this. They believed that God, as Lord of the 
conscience, had given a revelation of his will to man, and 
that it was the inherent right and privilege of every human 
being to study that will, each one for himself. They did 
not stop here : they were diligent seekers for truth ; the 
advocates of education and of free inquiry. Throwing 
aside the traditions of men, they went directly to the 
Bible, and taught all men to do the same. 

On the continent, the Reformation began among the 
learned men of the universities, and gradually extended to 
the rmeducated people. In England, the common people 
were reading the Bible in their own language, long before 
"it was the privilege of any nation on the continent.* Thus 
the English were prejiared to enter into the spirit of the 
Reformation under Luther. Soon persecutions of the Re- 
formers arose ; with civil commotions and oppressions 
involving all Europe in war. These troubles drove the 
Huguenot from France and the Puritan from England, to 
seek homes in the wiklei'uess of the New World. 

From the Bible they learned their high and holy prin- 
ciples ; fiery trials taught them endurance. They brought 
with them to our shores the spirit of the Reformation, the 
recognition of civil rights and religious liberty. These 
principles have been transmitted to us in our national 
institutions and form of government. 



D'Aubigne's Hist, of the Kcformation, Vol. V. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE HUGUENOTS IN THE SOUTH. 

Their settlement destroyed.— The Colony of St. Augustine. — De Gourges. 
Settlements in Xew France. — Chaniplain and his Success. 

While these contests were going on in Europe between chap 

the friends of religions liberty and the Roman Catholics, 

Coligny, the high-admiral of France, a devoted Protestant, i.5fi2 
conceived the idea of founding a colony in the New World, 
to which his persecuted countrymen might flee, and enjoy 
that which was denied them in their native land ; the 
inestimable privilege of worshipping God according to the 
dictates of their own conscience, enlightened by his holy 
word. 

The French government took no interest in the matter. 
Those influences were then at work, which a few years 1572 
later produced their dire efi'ect in the massacre of St. Bar- 
tholomew. Coligny, however, easily obtained a commission 
from Charles IX. Preparations were soon made, and the 
expedition sailed under the direction of John Ribault, a 
worthy man, and a sincere Protestant. 

They knew the character of the country and of the 
climate in the latitude of the St. Lawrence, and they wish- 
ed to find a region more fertile and a climate more genial. 
They made land in the vicinity of St. Augustine, Florida; 
then continued further north along the coast, and landed 
at Port Royal entrance. They were delighted with the May. 
country, its fine climate, its magnificent forests, fragrant 



30 HISTORY OF THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 

f^AP- with wild flowers ; but above all with the capacious har- 

hor, which was capable of floating the largest ships. Here 

1562. it was determined to make a settlement : a fort was built 
on an island in the harbor, and in honor of their sovereign 
called Carolina. Leaving twenty-five men to keep pos- 
session of the country, Ribault departed for Frahce, with 
the intention of returning the next year with supplies and 
more emigrants. He found France in confusion ; civil 
war was raging with all its attendant horrors. In vnin the 
colonists looked for reinforcements and supplies — none 
ever came. Disheartened, they resolved to return home : 
they hastily built a brigantine, and with an insufficiency of 
provisions, set sail. They came near perishing at sea by 
femine, but were providentially rescued by an English bark. 
Part of these colonists were taken to France, and part to 
England, — there they told of the fine climate and the rich 
soil of the country they had attempted to colonize. We 
shall yet see the efiect of this information in directing 
English enterprise. 

Two years after, there was a treacherous lull in the 
storm of civil discord in France ; Coligny again' attempted 
to found a colony. The care of this expedition was intrust- 
ed to Landoniere, a man of uprightness and intelligence, 
who had been on the former voyage. The healthfulness of 
the climate of Florida was represented to be wonderful : 
it was believed, that under its genial influence, human life 
was extended more than one-half, while the stories of the 
wealth of the interior still found credence. Unfortiinately 
proper care was not exercised in selecting the colonists 
from the numerous volunteers who oflered. Some were 
chosen who were not worthy to be members of a colony 
based on religious principles, and founded for noble pur- 
poses. 

They reached the coast of Florida, avoided Port Royal, 

1504. the scene of former misery, and found a suitable location 

for a settlement on the banks of the river May, now called 



FOET CAROLINA. 



31 



the St. Johns. They offered songs of thanksgiving to God ™ap. 

for his gniding care, and trusted to his promises for the 

future. They built another fort, which like the first they 1564. 
called Carolina. The true character of some of the colo- June, 
nists soon began to appear, — these had joined the enter- 
prise with no higher motive than gain. They were muti- 
nous, idle, and dissolute, wasting the provisions of the com- 
pany. They robbed the Indians, who became hostile, and 
refused to furnish the colony with provisions. 

Under the pretext of avoiding famine, these fellows of 
the baser sort asked permission of Laudoniere to go to New 
Spain. He granted it, thinking it a happy riddance for 
himself and the colony. They embarked, only to become 
pirates. The Spaniards, whom they attacked, took their 
vessel and made most of them slaves ; the remainder es- 
caped in a boat. They knew of no safer place than Fort 
Carolina. When they returned Laudoniere had them 
arrested for piracy ; they were tried, and the ringleaders 
condemned and executed ; — a sufficient evidence that 
their conduct was detested by the better portion of the 
colonists. 

Famine now came pressing on. Month after month 
passed away, and still there 'came no tidings — no supplies 
from home. JiTst at this time arrived Sir John Hawkins 
from the West Indies, where he had disposed of a cargo of 
negroes as slaves. He was the first Englishman, it is 
said, who had engaged in that unrighteous traffic. Though 
hard-hearted toward the wretched Africans, he manifested 
much sympathy for the famishing colonists ; supplied them 
with provisions, and gave them one of his ships. They 
continued their preparations to leave for home, when sud- 
denly the cry was raised that ships were coming into the Aug. 
harbor. It was Ribault returning with supplies and fami- 
lies of emigrants. He was provided with domestic ani- 
mals, seeds and implements for cultivating the soil. The 
scene was now changed ; aU were willing to remain, and 



32 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^■V{\^- tlie hope of founding a French Protestant State in the 

. . New World was revived. 

1504. Philijo II., the cruel and bigoted King of Spain, hf^ard 

that the French — French Protestants — had presumed to 
make a settlement in Florida ! Immediately plans were laid 
to exterminate the heretics. The king found a fit instru- 
ment for the purpose in Pedro Melendez ; a man familiar 
with scenes of carnage and cruelty, whose life was stained 
with almost every crime. The king knew his desperate 
character ; gave him permission to conquer Florida at his 
own ex^jeuse, and appointed him its governor for life, with 
the right to name his successor. His colony was to consist 
of not less than five hundred persons, one hundred of whom 
should be married men. He was also to introduce the 
sugar-cane, and five hundred negro slaves to cultivate it. 
The expedition was soon under way. Melendez first saw the 
land on the day consecrated to St. Augustine ; some days 
after, sailing along the coast, he discovered a fine harbor 
and river, to which he gave the name of that saint. From 
the Indians he learned where the Huguenots had estab- 
lished themselves. They were much surprised at the ap- 
pearance of a fieet, and they inquired of the stranger who 
he was and why he came ; he' replied, " I am Melendez, of 
Sept. Spain, sent by my sovereign with strict orders to behead 
and gibbet every Protestant in these regions ; the Catholic 
shall be spared, but every Protestant shall die !" The 
French fleet, unprepared for a conflict, put to sea ; the 
Spaniards pursued but did not overtake it. Melendez then 
returned to St. Augustine. After a religious festival in 
honor of the Virgin Mary, he proceeded to mark out the 
boundaries for a town. St. Augustine is, by more than 
forty years, the oldest town in the United States. 

His determination was now to attack the Huguenots 
by land, and carry out his cruel orders. The French sup- 
posing the Spaniards would come by sea, set sail to meet 
thoin. Melendez found the colonists unj)repared and de- 



THE MASSACRE. 33 

fenceless ; their men were nearly all on board the fleet. A ^^ap, 

short contest ensued ; the French were overcome, and the 

fanatic Spaniards massacred nearly the whole numl)er, — lofi-t. 
meu, women, and children ; they spared not even the aged 
and the sick. A few were reserved as slaves, and a few 
escaped to the woods. To show to the world upon what 
principles he acted, Melendez placed over the dead this 
inscription : — " I do not this as unto Frenchmen, but as 
unto heretics." Mass was celebrated, and on the ground 
stQl reeking with the blood of the innocent victims of re- 
ligious bigotry and fanaticism, he erected a cross and 
marked out a site for a church — the first on the soil of 
the United States. 

Among those who escaped, were Laudoni^re and Le 
Moyne, an artist, sent by Coligny to make drawings of the 
most interesting scenery of the country ; and Challus, who 
afterward wrote an account of the calamity. When they 
seemed about to perish in the forests from hunger, they 
questioned whether they should appeal to the mercy of 
their conquerors. " No," said Challus, " let us trust in 
the mercy of God rather than of these men." After en- 
during many hardships, they succeeded in reaching two 
small French vessels which had remained in the harbor, 
and thus escaped to France. A few of their companions, 
who threw themselves upon the mercy of the Spaniards, 
were instantly murdered. 

While these scenes of carnage were in progress, a ter- 
rible storm wrecked the French fleet ; some of the soldiers 
and sailors were enabled to reach the shore, but in a des- 
titute condition. These poor men when invited, surren- 
dered themselves to the promised clemency of Melendez. 
They were taken across the river in little companies ; as 
they landed their hands were tied behind them, and they 
driven to a convenient place, where at a given signal they 
were all murdered. Altogether nine hundred persons 
perished by shipwreck and violence. It is the office of 
3 



34: HISTOBT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, historj' to record the deeds of the past — the evil and the 

. good ; let the one be condemned and avoided, the other 

1504. commended and imitated. May we not hope that the day 
of fanatic zeal and religions persecution has passed anvay 
forever ? 

The French government was indifferent, and did not 
avenge the wrongs of her loyal and good subjects ; but the 
Huguenots, and the generous portion of the nation, were 
roused to a high state of indignation at such wanton, such 
unheard-of cruelty. This feeling found a representative 
in Dominic de Gourges, a native of Gascony. He fitted 
out, at his own expense, three ships, and with one hun- 
dred and fifty men sailed for Florida. He suddenly came 
upon the Spaniards and completely overpowered them. 
1568. Near the scene of their former cruelty he hanged about 
t^'o hundred on the trees ; placing over them the inscrip- 
tion, " I do not this as unto Spaniards and mariners, but 
as unto traitors, robbers, and murderers !" Gourges im- 
mediately returned to France, when the " Most Christian" 
king set a price upon his head ; and he who had exposed 
his life, and sacrificed his fortune to avenge the insult 
offered to his country, was obliged to conceal himself to 
escape the gallows. Thus perished the attempt of the 
noble Coligny and the Huguenots to found a French Prot- 
estant State in the New World. 

After the unsuccessful expeditions of Cartier and Eo- 
berval, French fishermen, in great numbers, continued to 
visit the waters around Newfoundland. As the govern- 
ment had relinquished its claim to Florida, the idea was 
once more revived of colonizing on the shores of the St. 
Lawrence. 
1567. The Marquis de la Roche obtained a commission for this 

purpose. His colonists, like those of Eoberval, were crimi- 
nals taken from the prisons of France : like his. this enter- 
prise proved an utter failure. The efforts of some mer- 



PORT ROYAL SETTLEMENT. 35 

chants, who obtained by patent a monopoly of the fur- ™aP' 

trade, also failed. ■ 

At length, a company of merchants of Eouen engaged 1603. 
in the enterprise with more success. That success may be 
safely attributed to Samuel Champlain, a man of compre- 
hensive mind, of great energy o^ character, cautious in all 
his plans ; a keen observer of the habits of the Indians, 
and an unwearied explorer of the country. 

In the latter part of this same year, a patent, exclu- 
sive in its character, was given to a Protestant, the excel- 
lent and patriotic Sieur De Monts. The patent conferred 
on him the sovereignty of the country called Acadie — a 
territory extending from Philadelphia on the south, to be- 
yond Montreal on the north, and to the west indefinitely. 
It granted Mm a monopoly of the fur-trade and other 
branches of commerce ; and freedom in religion to the 
Huguenots who should become colonists. It was enjoineu 
upon all idlers, antl men of no profession, and banished 
persons to aid in founding the colony. 

The expedition was soon under way in two ships. In 
due time they entered a spacious harbor on the western 
part of Nova Scotia, which they named Port Koyal, since 
Annapolis. The waters abounded in fish, and the coun- 
try was fertile and level — advantages that induced some of 
the emigrants to form a settlement. Others went to an 
island at the mouth of the St. Croix, but the next spring 1607. 
they removed to Port Royal. This was the first perma- 
nent Frerfch settlement in the New World ; and these 
were the ancestors of those imfortunate Acadiens whose 
fate, nearly a century and a half later, forms a melancholy 
episode in American history. 

Aniong the influences exerted upon the Indians was 
that of the Jesuits, who, a few years afterward, were sent 
as missionaries to the tribes between the Penobscot and 
the Kennebec in Maine. These tribes became the allies 
of the French, and remained so during all their contests 



36 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN' PEOPLE. 

CHAP, with the English. De Monts explored the coast and rivers 
____ of New England as far south as Cape Cod, intending 

1608. somewhere in that region to make a settlement ; but disas- 
ter followed disaster, till the project was finally abandoned. 

Meantime, Champlain, whose ambition was to estab- 
lish a State, had founded Quebec, that is, it was the 
centre of a few cultivated fields and gardens. Huguenots 
were among the settlers ; they had taken an active part in 
the enterprise ; but there were also others who were of the 
Catholic faith. Soon religious disputes as well as commer- 
cial jealousies arose, which retarded the progress of the 
colony. Champlain, the soul of the enterprise, was not 
idle ; he made many exploring expeditions, and discovered 

1609. t^*^ beautiful lake which bears his name. In sj)ite of the 
quarrels between the Jesuits and the Huguenots, and the 
restlessness of the Indians and disappointments of various 
kinds, the persevering Champlain succeeded in estabHsh- 

1684, ing a French colony on the banks of the St. Lawrence. 
For one hundred and twenty years it remained under the 
dominion of his native France, and then passed into the 
hands of her great rival. 



■ CHAPTER VIII. 

ENGLISH ENTERPRISE. 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert. — The Fisheries. — St. Johns, Newfoundland. — Sir 
Walter Raleigh.— Exploring Expedition. — Virginia ; failures to colo- 
nize. — Contest with Spain. — Death of Sir Walter. 



CHAP, 
VIII. 



England never relinquished her claims to North Amer- 
ica ; they were based upon the discovery and explorations 1569. 
of Sebastian Cabot. According to the received rules of 
the times, she was right, as he was undoubtedly the 1497. 
first discoverer. For many reasons, she was not pre- 
pared to avail herself of these claims, tiU nearly ninety 
years after that discovery. This time was not passed by 
the English sailors in maritime idleness. During the reign 
of Henry VIII., intercourse was kej^t up with the fisheries 
of Newfoundland, that school of English seamen, in which 
were trained the men who gave to that nation the suprem- 
acy of the ocean, — the element upon which the military 
glory of England was to be achievedj- The king cherished 
his navy, and took commerce under his special protection. 
The reign of Mary, of bloody memory, saw the strug- 
gle commence between England and Spain for the suprem- 
acy on the ocean. She married Philip II., the most 
powerful monarch of the age : he designed to subject the 
English nation to himself, and its religion to the church of 
Rome. When this became known, the Protestant spirit 
rose in opposition. Tliis spirit pervaded the entire people ; 



88 HISTOET OF THE A3IEEICAN PEOPLE. 

^vui' *^^^ exerted their energies to the utmost. Instead of sub- 

mitting to the dictation of S]3ain, England boldly assumed 

1570. the position of an antagonist. There was a marked con- 
trast between the two nations. The navy of the one was 
immense, that of the other was small, but brave and effi- 
cient : the one drew her wealth from mines of gold and 
silver in the New World — tbe other obtained hers by the 
slow process of industry and economy. The one became 
proud and indolent, luxurious and imbecile — the other 
may have become proud, but certainly not indolent; luxu- 
rious, but certainly not imbecile. 

On her accession. Queen Elizabeth pursued the policy 
of her father Henry VIII., towards her navy and com- 

From merce. While some of her subjects were trading by land 
1549 . . . 

with tlie east, others were on the ocean cruising against 

the Spaniards : some were prosecuting the fisheries around 
Newfoundland and in the seas northwest of Europe ; some 
were exploring the western coast of America, and the east- 
ern coast of Asia : others were groping their way among 
the islands of the extreme north, in a vain search for the 
north-west passage. 

Explorers were still haunted with the idea that mines 

of exhaustless wealth were yet to be found in the New • 

World. Great was the exultation when a " mineral-man" 

of London declared that a stone brought by an English 

sailor from the Polar regions, contained gold. England 

was to find in the region of eternal snow mines of the pre- 

• cious metal, more prolific than Spain had found in Mexico. 

Soon fifteen vessels set sail for this northern island, where 

there was " ore enough to suffice all the gold-gluttons of 

. the world." They returned laden, not with golden ore, but 

1578. with worthless yellow stones. 

Meanwhile, the fisheries around Newfoundland had be- 
come a certain, though a slow source of wealth. Sir 
Humphrey Gilbert, a gentleman of distinction and of up- 
right principles, obtained a commission from the Queen ' o 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 39 

plant a colony in the vicinity of these fisheries. He cnxp 

landed at St. Johns, Newfoiindland, and there in the . 

presence of the fishermen of other nations, took formal Aiij 



n'l 



possession of the territory in the name of his sovereign. He 
then passed further south, exploring the coast — hut losing 
his largest ship with all on board, he found it necessary to 
Bail for home. Only two vessels remained, one of which, 
the Squirrel, was a mere boat of ten tons, used to explore 
the shallow bays and inlets. The closing acts of Sir Hum 
phrey's life afford proofs of his piety and nobleness of char- 
acter. Unwilling that the humblest of his men should 
risk more danger than himself, he chose to sail in the boat 
rather than in the larger and safer vessel. A terrible storm 
arose ; he sat calmly reading a book — doubtless that book 
from which he drew consolation in times of sorrow and 
trial. To encourage those who were in the other vessel, he 
was heard to cry to them, " we are as near to heaven on 
sea as on land," — the reality of this cheering thought he 
was so9n to experience. That night, those on the larger 
vessel saw the lights of the little boat suddenly disappear. 

The next attempt at colonization was made by Gilbert's 1534. 
half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, one of the noblest of that 
age of noble spirits : gallant and courteous in his manners; 
a scholar, a poet, a benefiictor of his race ; his name should 
ever be held in grateful remenibrance by the people of this 
country. He studied the art of war with Coligny, the high 
admiral of France. When in that country, he determined 
to i^lant a colony in those delightful regions from which the 
Huguenots had been driven by the hand of violence. He 
had learned from them of the charming climate, where 
winter lingered only for a short time, — where the magnifi- 
cent trees and fragrant woods bloomed during nearly all 
the year,^where the gushing fountains, noble rivers, and 
fertile soil invited the industrious to enjoy the fruits of 
their labor. When Sir Walter returned home from France, 
he found the people prepared to enter upon schemes of 



40 HISTOEY OF THE A3IERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, colonization in the south. They, too, had heard of those 

" delightful regions " from the Huguenots, who at sea had 

1584. been rescued from death, and brought to England. Ka- 
leigh without difficulty obtained a commission, granting 
him ample powers, as proprietor of the territories he was 
about to colonize. He first sent an exploring expedition, 
consisting of two ships, under Philip Amidas and Arthur 
Barlow, to obtain more definite information of the country. 
They sailed the usual route, by the Canaries and the West 
Indies, came first upon the coast of North Carolina, landed 
upon one of the islands forming Ocracock inlet, and took 
formal possession of the country. They partially explored 
Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, and the islands and coast 
in the x-icinity, and then sailed for home. They took with 
them two of the natives, Wanchese and Manteo ; the lat- 
ter was afterward very useful to the colonists as an inter- 
preter. Amidas and Barlow on their return, confirmed 
what the Huguenots had reported of the excellence of the 
country. They saw it in the month of July. They 
described the unrufiled ocean, dotted \vith beautiful islands; 
the clearness of the atmosphere ; the luxuriant forests 
vocal with the songs of birds ; the vines draping the trees, 
and the grapes hanging in clusters. This sunny land, in 
all its virgin beauty, appeared to these natives of foggy 
England, as the very paradise of the world. Elizabeth, 
delighted with the description, named the country Virginia, 
in honor of herself, as she took pride in being known as the 
Virgin Queen. 
April, It was not difficult now to obtain colonists ; soon a 

fleet of seven vessels was equipped, containing ,one hun- 
dred and eight persons, who intended to form a settle- 
ment. Sir Richard Grenville, a friend of Raleigh, and a 
man of eminence, commanded the fleet, and Ralph Lane 
was appointed governor of the colony. After a tedious 
voyage, they landed, in June, fifteen hundred and eighty- 
five, on an island called Roanake, lying between Albemarle 



ROANOKE ABANDONED. 41 

and Pamlico sounds. Before long they excited the enmity chap 

of the Indians. On one of their exploring expeditions, a . 

silver cup was lost or stolen. The Indians were charged June, 
with the theft ; perhaps they were innocent. Because it 
was not restored, Grenville, with very little prudence and 
less justice, set fire to their village and destroyed their 
standing corn. Little did he know the train of sorrow and 
death he introduced by thus harshly treating the Indians 
and making them enemies. A few weeks after the fleet 
sailed for England, unlawfully cruising against the Span- 
ish on the voyage. Governor Lane now explored the 
country, noticed the various productions of the soil, and 
the general character of the inhabitants. The colonists 
found many strange plants ; — the corn, the sweet potato, 
the tobacco plant, were seen by them for the first time. 
Lane was unfit for his station ; he became unreasonably 
suspicious of the Indians. With professions of friendship, 
he visited a prominent chief, and was hospitably received 
and entertained ; this kindness he repaid by basely mur- 
dering the chief and his followers. Men capable of such igsg. 
treachery were necessarily unfit to found a Christian 
State. Provisions now began to fail and the colonists 
to despond. 

Just at this time Sir Francis Drake, on his way home 
from the West Indies, called to visit the colony of his 
friend Raleigh. Though they had been but a year in the 
country, the colonists begged him to take them home. 
Drake granted their request. They were scarcely out of 
sight of land, when a ship, sent by Raleigh, laden with 
supplies, arrived. The colonists could not be found, and 
the ship returned to England. In a fortnight Grenville 
appeared with three ships ; not finding the colonists he 
also returned home, unwisely leaving fifteen men to k.eep 
possession of the territory. 

Though disappointed Raleigh did not despair. The 
natural advantages of the country had failed to induce the 



42 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAi'- first company to remain. It was hoped, that if surrounded 
, by social and domestic ties, future colonists would learn tc 

1586. look upon it as their true home. Sir Walter's second 
company was composed of emigrants with their families, 
who should cultivate the soil, and eventually found a State 
for themselves and their posterity. Queen Elizabeth pro 
fessed to favor the enterprise, but did nothing to aid it 
The expedition was fitted out with all that was necessary 
to form an agricultural settlement. Raleigh appointed 

■Tail Jtibn White governor, with directions to form the settle- 

1587. ment on the shores of Chesapeake bay. 

They came first to the Island of Eoanoke, there to be- 
hold a melancholy spectacle — the bleaching bones of the 

'^'■'yi men whom Grenville had left. All had become a desert. 
Doubtless they had been murdered by the Indians. Fer- 
nando, the naval ofiicer in command of the fleet, refused 
to assist in exploring the shores of the Chesapeake, and 
the colonists were compelled to remain on the Island of 
Roanoke. The scene of two failures was to be the witness 
of a third. The Indians were evidently hostile. The 
colonists becoming alarmed, urged the governor to hasten 

Aug. to England and speedily bring them assistance. Previous 
to his leaving, Mrs. Dare, his daughter, and wife of one of 
his lieutenants, gave birth to a female child, — the first 
child of English parentage born on the soil of the United 
States ; it was approjiriately named Virginia. 

. White on his return found England in a state of great 
excitement. The Pope had excommunicated Queen Eliza- 
'beth, and had absolved her subjects from their allegiance 
to her throne ; at the same time promising her kingdom 
to any Catholic prince who should take possession of it. 
The revengeful Philip, of Spain, that good son of the 
Church, had been for three years preparing an immense 
army and fleet, with which he intended to invade iind con- 
quer England. The fleet was boastfully named the luvin- 

1588. ciblc Armada. The English naval commanders flocked 



DEATH OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 43 

home from every part of the world to defend their native <^?|P 

land, and to battle for the Protestant religion. English . . 

seamanship and bravery completely triumphed. From 1588. 
that hour the prestige of Spain on the ocean was gone — it 
passed to England. It is not strange that in such exciting 
times the poor colonists of Roanoke were overlooked or for- 
gotten. As soon as the danger was passed, aid was sent ; 
but it came too late : not a vestige of the colony was to be 
found ; death had done its work, whether by the hand' of 
the savage, or by disease, none can tell. What may have 
been their sufferings is veiled in darkness. Eighty years 
after, the English were told by the Indians that the Hat- 
teras tribe had adopted the colonists into their number. 
The probability is that they were taken prisoners and car- 
ried far into the interior. A few years before Sir Francis 
Drake had broken up the Spanish settlement at St. 
Augustine. Thus, one hundred years after the first voy- 
age of Columbus, the continent was once more in the pes • 
session of the Ked Men. 

Sir Walter Raleigh had now expended nearly all his 
fortune ; yet, when he saw no prospect of ever deriving 
benefit from his endeavors, he sent several times, at his 
own expense, to seek for the lost colonists and to render 
them aid. Sir Walter's genius and jjerseverance prepared 
the way for the successful settlement of Virginia ; he had 
sown the seed, others enjoyed the harvest. The remainder 
of his life was clouded by misfortune. n the accession 
of James I., he was arraigned on a frivolous charge 
,of high treason ; a charge got up by his enemies, never 
substantiated, and never believed by those who condemned 
him. On his trial he defended himself with a dignity and 
consciousness of innocence that excited the admiration of 
the world and put to shame his enemies. His remaining 
property was taken from him by the king, and for thirteen 
years he was left to languish in the Tower of London ; 



44 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. James not yet daring to order the execution of tlie patriot 

'_ statesman, who was an ornament to England and the age 

J588 in which he lived. After the lapse of sixteen yeara the 
hour came, and Sir Walter met death on the scafi'old with 
the calmness and dignity of an innocent and Christian 
man. • 



CHAPTEE IX. 

THE SETTLEMENT OF VIKGINIA. 

London and Plymouth Companies. — King James' Laws. — The Voyage and 
Arrival. — Jamestown. — John Smith ; his Character, Energy, Captivity, 
and Release. — Misery of the Colonists. — New Emigrants. — Lord Dela- 
ware. — Sir Thom:is Gates. — Pocahontas ; her Capture and Marriage. — 
Yeardley. — First Legislative Assembly. 

The bold and energetic Elizabeth was succeeded by the chap 

• . . . IX. 

timid and pedantic James I. To sustain herself against _____ 

the power of Spain, she had raised a strong military force, 16O6. 
both on sea and land. But James had an instinctive 
dread of gunpowder, he was in favor of peace at all 
hazards, even at the expense of national honor. He dis- 
banded the greater portion of the army, and dismissed 
many of those employed in the navy. These men, left 
without regular employment, were easily induced to try 
their fortunes as colonists in Virginia. They were not 
good material, as we shall see, but they prepared the way 
for better men, and ultimately for success. Sir Walter 
Kaleigh having sacriiiced his fortune in fruitless attempts 
to found a colony, had induced some gentlemen to form a 
company, and engage in the enterprise. To this com- 
pany he had transferred his patent, with all its privileges, 
on very liberal terms. The company manifested but little 
energy : they had neither the enthusiasm nor the liberality 
of Sir Walter. 

England claimed the territory from Cape Fear, in North 
Carolina, to Newfoundland, and to the West indefinitely. 



4b HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 

CHAP. This territory King James divided into two parts : Soutli 

Virginia, extending from Cape Fear to the Potomac ; and 

1606. North Vii-ginia, from the mouth of the Hudson to New- 
foundland. There were now formed two comjianies : one 
known as the London Company, principally composed of 
" noblemen, gentlemen, and merchants," residing in Lon- 
don ; the other the Plymouth Company, composed of 
" knights, gentlemen, and merchants," living in the West 
of England. To the London Company James granted 
South Virginia, to the Plymouth Company North Vir- 
ginia. The region between the Potomac and the mouth 
of the Hudson was to be neutral ground, on which the 
companies were at liberty to form settlements within 
fifty miles of their respective boundaries. The London 
Company was the first to send emigrants. 

King James was enamored of what he called king- 
craft. He believed that a king had a divine right to make 
and unmake laws at his own pleasure, and was bound by 
no obligation, — not even to keep his own word. In main- 
taining the former of these kingly rights, James sometimes 
"found difficulty; he was more successful in exercising the 
latter. He took upon himself the authority and labor of 
framing laws for the colony about to sail. These laws are 
a fair specimen of his kingcraft. They did not grant a 
single civil privilege to the colonists, who had no vote in 
choosing their own magistrates ; but were to be governed 
by two councils, both appointed by the king, — one resid- 
ing in England, the other in the colony. In religious mat- 
ters, differences of opinion were forbidden ; all must con- 
form to the rites of the church of England. The Indians 
were, to be treated kindly, and if possible, converted to 
Christianity. 
1007 Three ships were sent with one hundred and five emi- 

grants ;. of the whole number, not twenty were agricul- 
turists or mechanics, — there was not a family nor a woman 
in the company. The great majority were gentlemen, a 
» 



SETTLEMENT OF JAMESTOWN. 47 

tevm then api^lied to those who had no regular employment, chap 
but spent their time in idleness and dissij^ation. 

The names of those who were to form the governing 1607. 
council, together with their instructions, were, by order of 
the king, foolishly sealed up in a box, there to remain until 
they were ready to form a government. Thus when dis- 
sensions arose on the voyage, there was no legal authority 
to restore harmony. 

Captain Newport, who commanded the expedition, 
came first upon the coast of North Carolina, intending to 
visit the island of Koanoke, the scene of Kaleigh's failures, 
but a storm suddenly arose, and fortunately drove him 
north into Chesapeake bay. The little fleet soon entered 
a large river, and explored its stream for fifty miles — then 
on the thirteenth of May, one thousand six hundred and May 
seven, the members of the colony landed, and determined 
to form a settlement. The river was named James, and 
the settlement Jamestown, in honor of the king ; while the 
capes at the entrance of the bay, were named Charles and 
Henry, in honor of his sons. 

In every successful enterprise, we observe the power of 
some one leading spirit. In this case, the man worthy the 
confidence of all, because of his knowledge, and natural 
superiority of mind, was Captain John Smith, justly styled 
the " Father of Virginia." Though but thirty years of 
age, he had acquired much knowledge of the world. He 
had travelled over the western part of Europe, and in Egypt; 
had been a soldier in the cause of freedom in Holland ; had 
fought against the Turks in Hungary, where he was taken 
prisoner, and sent to Constantinoiile as a slave. He was 
rescued from slavery by a Turkish lady, conveyed to the 
Crimea, where he was ill-treated ; his proud spirit resisted, 
he slew his oppressor and escaped, wandered across the 
continent, and returned to England just as plans were 
maturing to colonize Virginia. He entered into the enter- 
prise with his habitual energy. His cool courage, his 



48 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, knowledge of human nature, civilized and savage, — but 

above all, his honesty and common sense, fitted him for the 

1607. undertaking. 

The superiority of Smith excited the envy and jealousy 
of those who expected to be named members of the coun- 
cil, when the mysterious box should be opened. ' On false 
and absurd charges he was arrested and placed in confine- 
ment. The box was opened — the king had appointed him 
one of the council. An eifort was made to exclude him, 
but he demanded a trial ; his accusers, unable to substan- 
tiate their charges, withdrew them, and he took his seat. 
Wingfield, an avaricious and unprincipled man, was chosen 
president of the council and governor of the colony. 

When these difficulties were arranged, Newport and 
Smith, accompanied by some twenty men, spent three 
weeks in exploring the neighboring rivers and country. 
They visited*Powhatan, the principal Ihdian chief in the 
vicinity — " a man about sixty years of age, tall, sour, and 
athletic." His capital of twelve wigwams, was situated at 
the falls of James river, near where Eichmond now stands. 
His tribe seems 'to have been fearful and suspicious of the 
intruding white men from the very first — impressed, it may 
be, with a foreboding of evil to come. 

Soon after, Newport sailed for home, leaving the colo- 
June. nists in a wretched condition. Their provisions nearly all 
spoiled, and they too idle to provide against the eftects of 
the climate — much sickness prevailed, and more than half 
the company died before winter. To add to their distress, 
it was discovered that Wingfield had been living upon 
their choicest stores, and that he intended to seize the 
remainder of their provisions, and escape to the West 
Indies. The council deposed him, and elected Ratcliffe 
president. The change was not for the better ; he was 
not more honest than Wingfield, and mentally less fit 
for the station. In this emergency the control of affairs 
passed by tacit consent into the hands of Smith. He knew 



SMITH A PRISONER. 49 

from tlie first what was needed for the colony. As it was ^^^^^• 

now too late in the season to obtain food of their own rais- . 

insr, he had recourse to trading; with the Indians for com. 1607. 
Toward the close of autumn, an abundance of wild fowl 
furnished additional provisions. The colony thus provided Dec. 
for, Smith further explored the neighboring rivers and 
country. In one of these expeditions he ascended a branch 
of the James river, and leaving the boat in care of his men, 
took with him his Indian guide, and struck out into the 
forest. Finding himself pursued by the Indians, he fas- 
tened his guide to his arm as a shield against their arrows, 
and defended himself with great bravery, but at length 
sinking in a swamp, he was taken prisoner. His captors 
regarded him with strange wonder ; his cool courage and 
self-possession struck them with awe. He, aware of the 
simplicity and inquisitiveness of the savage character, 
showed them his pocket compass. They wondered at the 
motion of the needle, and at the strange transparent cover, 
which secured it from their touch. Was their captive a 
superior being ? — was he friendly to themselves ? — how 
should they dispose of him ? — were questions that now per- 
plexed them. They permitted him to send a letter to 1608. 
Jamestown. The fact that he could impress his thoughts 
upon paper, and send them far away, they regarded as 
strong proof of his superiority. He was led from jjlace to 
place, to be gazed at by the wondering natives of the 
forest. For three days they performed powwows, or religious 
ceremonies, in order to learn from the spirit world some- 
thing of his nature and intentions. Finally, he was sent 
to Powhatan, to be disposed of as he should decide. The 
Indian chief received him with a great display of savage 
pomp, but decided that he must die. Preparations were 
made, but the eventful life of Smith was not destined to 
be closed by the war-club of the savage. The heart of 
Focahontas, a young daughter of Powhatan, a girl of ten • 
or twelve years of age, was touched with sympathy and 
4 



•50 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



» 



*^l'x ^ pity. She pleaded witli her father for his life. She clung 

tenderly to him as he bowed his head to receive the fatal 

1608. stroke. Her interposition was received hy the savages as 
an indication of the will of heaven, and the life of Smith 
was spared. Her people have passed away — most of their 
names are forgotten, hut the name of Pocahontas, and the 
story of her generous deed, will ever be honored and re- 
membered. 

The Indians now wished to adopt Smith into their 
.number : they strove to induce him to join them against 
the English. He dissuaded them from an attack upon 
Jamestown, by representing to them the wonderful eifects 
of the " big guns." After an absence of seven weeks, he 
Jan was permitted to return. He had obtained much valuable 
information of the country, of its inhabitants, their lan- 
guage and customs. 

He found the colony reduced in number to forty — in 
want of provisions, and in anarchy and confusion, while 
some were making preparations to desert in the jiinnace ; 
this he iirevented at the risk of his life. The famishing 
colonists were partly sustained through the winter by the 
generous Pocahontas, wto with her companions almost 
every day brought them basketg of corn. 

In the spring, Newport returned with another com- 
pany of emigrants ; like the tirst, " vagabond gentlemen," 
idlers, and gold-hunters. These gold-hunters lighted upon 
some earth, glittering with yellow mica ; they thought it 
golden ore. Every thing else was neglected ; the entire 
company engaged in loading the ships with this useless 
earth. What a blessing to England and the colony that 
it was not gold ! 

While the people of Jamestown were thus foolishly em- 
ployed. Smith explored the harbors and rivers of Chesa- 
peake bay, and established friendly relations with the 
Indians along its shores. From them he learned of the 
Mohawks, who " made war upon all the world." On his 



UNWORTHY EMIGRANTS. 51 

return, lie was, for the first time, formally elected Prcsi- chap 

' ' . J J .IX. 

dent of the Council. Industry was now more wisely 

directed ; but in the autumn came another company of 1608. 
idle and useless emigrants. Smith, indignant that his 
efforts to improve the colony should thus be frustrated, 
wrote to the council to send him but a few husbandmen 
and mechanics, and " diggers up of trees' roots," rather 
than a thousand such men as had been sent. Tbe com- 
plaint was just. During two years tliey had not brought 
under cult'ivation more than forty acres of land, while 
the number of able-bodied men was more than two hun- 
dred. The energetic arm of Smith was soon felt. The 
first law he made and enforced was, that " He who would 
not work should not eat ;" the second, that " Each man 
for six days in the week should work six hours each 
day." 

In England, about this time, an unusual interest was M.iy, 
manifested in the colony ; subscriptions were made to its 
stock, and the charter materially changed. The council 
was now chosen by the stockholders of the company, in- 
stead of being appointed by the king. This council ap- 
pointed the governor, but he could rule with absolute 
authority. Not a single privilege was yet granted the 
colonist : his property, his liberty, his life were at the dis- 
posal of the governor ; and he the agent of a soulless Cor- 
poration, whose only object was gain. The company had 
expended money, but the course they themselves pursued 
prevented their receiving a return. Instead of sending the 
industrious and virtuous, they sent idlers and libertines ; 
instead of farmers and mechanics, they sent gold-seekers 
and bankrupt gentlemen. Instead of offering a reward to 
industry they gave a premium to idleness, by making the 
proceeds of their labor go into a common stock. 

The new charter excited so great an interest in the 
cause, that a fleet of nine ships was soon under way, con- 
taining more than five hundred emigrants, and, for the 



1609. 



52 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAJT PEOPLE. 

CHAP, first time, domef?tic animals and fowls. Lord Delaware, a 

IX. . 
nobleman of excellent character, was appointed governoi 

1009 for life. As he was not prepared to come with this com- 
pany, he nominated Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, 
and Newport, to act as his commissioners imtil his own 
arrival. Seven of the vessels came safely, hut the shij) on 
which the commissioners embarked, with another, waF 
wrecked on one of the Bermuda islands. 

This company of emigrants appears to have been worse 
than any before. As the commissioners had failed to reach 
the colony, these worthies refused to submit to the author- 
ity of Smith, the acting President, contending that there 
was no legalized government. But these men, who " would 
rule all or ruin all," found in him a determined foe to dis- 
order and idleness ; he compelled them to submit. Un- 
fortunately, just at this time, he was injured by an acci- 
dental explosion of gunpowder, and obliged to return to 
England for surgical aid. He delegated his authority to 
George Percy, a brother of the Duke of Northumberland. 
And now the man who had more than once saved the 
colony from utter ruin, bade farewell to Virginia forever ; 
from his aiduous labors he derived no benefit, but ex- 

Qgt perienced at the hands of the company the basest in- 
gratitude. 

During the administration of Smith the Indians were 
held in check ; he inspired them with confidence and 
respect. When the colonists ^' beat them, stole their 
corn, and robbed their gardens," they complained to him, 
and he protected their rights. After his departure, they 
formed a plan to cut off the white men at a single blow ; 
but Pocahontas, that good genius of the English, came at 
night, in a driving storm, to Jamestown, revealed the plot, 
and saved the colony. 

1610. What the Indians failed to do, vice and famine nearly 

accomplished. In six months after the departure of Smith, 
of the four hundred and ninety colonists only sixty were 



EMIGRANTS AND SUPPLIES. 53 

living, and they would have perished in a few days had *'^^^- 

they not obtained relief. Sir Thomas Gates, and those , 

who were wrecked with him, found means to build a 1611. 
HmaU vessel, in which, at this crisis, they reached James J^/ 
river. They were astonished at the desolation. They 
all determined to abandon the place and sail to New- 
foundland, • and there distribute themselves among the 
fishermen. They dropped down the river with the tide, 
leaving the place without a regret. What was their sur- 
prise the next morning to meet Lord Delaware coming in 
with more emigrants and abundance of supplies. They re- 
turned with a favoring wind to Jamestown the same night. 

From this tenth day of June, one thousand six hun- 1611. 
dred and eleven, the colony began, under more favorable cir- 
cumstances, to revive. Other influences moulded their 
characters. They acknowledged Grod in all their ways, 
and their paths were directed by His providential care. 
Under the just administration of the excellent Delaware, 
factions were unknown ; each one was disposed to do his 
duty. Before they commenced the labors of the day, they 
met in their little church to implore the blessing of 
heaven. The effects were soon visible in the order and 
comfort of the community. They cheered their friends in 
England : " Doubt not," said they, " God will raise our 
state and build his Church in this excellent clime." In 
about a year, failing health compelled Lord Delaware to 
return to England. He left Percy, Smith's successor, as 
his re2jresentative. 

The next year Sir Thomas Gates arrived, with six Aug. 
ships and three hundred emigrants ; a majority of whom 
were of a better class, temperate and industrious in their 
habits. A measure was now introduced which produced 
the greatest effect on the well-being of the colonj : to each 
man was given a portion of land, which he was to culti- 
vate for himself. The good result of this was soon seen in 
the abundance of provisions. The colony became so pros- 



1612, 



54 HISTORY OF TUB AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, perous that some of the neighboring tribes of Indians 

'__ wished to be " called Englishmen," and to be subjects of 

1 612. King James. Some of the colonists, however, manifested 
neither gratitude nor justice toward the natives. A neigh- 
boring chief was won by the gift of a copper kettle to be- 
tray into the hands of Captain ArgaU, Pocahontas, that 
faithful friend of the colony. Argall had the meanness to 
demand of her father a ransom. For three months the 
indignant Powhatan did not deign to reply. Meantime 
Pocahontas received religious instruction : her susceptible 
heart was moved, she became a Christian and was bajjtized ; 
she was the first of her race " who openly renounced her 
country's idolatry." John Kolfe, a pious young man, of 
" honest and discreet carriage," became interested in the 
youthful princess ; he won her affections and asked her in 
marriage. Powhatan was' delighted. This marriage con- 
ciliated him and his tribe, and indeed gave general satis- 
faction, except to King James, who was greatly scandal- 
ized that any man, but one of royal blood, should presume 
to marry a princess. Kolfe took his wife to England, 
where she was much caressed. She never again saw her 
native land. Just as she was leaving England for Vir- 
ginia she died, at the eai-ly age of twenty-two. She left 
one son, whose posterity count it' an honor to have de- 
scended from this noble Indian girl. 

Sir Thomas Dale introduced laws, by which private 
individuals could become proprietors of the soil. The land- 
holders directed their attention almost exclusively to the 
raising of tobacco, which became so profitable an article of 
export, that it was used as the currency of the colony. At 
one time, the public squares and streets of Jamestown 
were planted with tobacco, and the raising of corn so 
much neglected, that there was danger of a famine. 
J616. After a rule of two years, Dale resigned and returned 

to England, leaving George Teardley as deputy-governor. 
During his administration, industry and prosperity cou- 



1019. 



HOUSE OF BURGESSES. 55 

tinued to increase. Under the influence of a faction, chap. 

Yeardley was superseded by the tyrannical Argall, but in . 

two years his vices and extortion, in connection with frauds -Tan., 
upon the company, procured his dismissal, and the people 
once more breathed freely under the second administration 
of the benevolent and popular Yeardley. 

Although the colony had been in existence twelve 
years, it contained not more than six hundred persons, and 
they appeared to have no settled intention of making the 
country their permanent home. Efforts were stiU made 
to send emigrants, twelve hundred of whom came in one 
year, and every means were used to attach them to the 
soil. At different times the company sent over more than 
one hundred and fifty respectable young women, who be- 
came wives in the colony, their husbands paying the ex- 
pense of their passage. This was paid in tobacco, the cost 
of each passage varying from one hundred and twenty to 
one hundred and fifty pounds. It was deemed dishonorable 
not to pay a debt contracted for a wife ; and to aid the 
husbands, the government, in giving employment, preferred 
married men. Thus surrounded by the endearments of 
home and domestic ties, the colonists were willing to remain 
in the' New World. 

Governor Yeardley was " commissioned by the com- 
pany " to grant the people the right to assist in making 
their own laws, for which purpose they could hold an 
Assembly once a year. In July, one thousand six hundred 
and nineteen, met the House of Burgesses, consisting of 
twenty-two members chosen by the .people. A peculiar 
interest is attached to this first Legislative Assembly in 
the New World. The laws enacted exhibit the spirit of 
the people. " Forasmuche," said the Assembly, "as man's 
affaires doe little prosper when God's service is neglected, 
we invite Mr. Bucke, the minister, to open our sessions 
by prayer, — that it would please God to sanctifie aU our 
proceedinges to his owne glory and the good of this plan- 
tation." They passed laws against vices, and in favor of 



56 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, iudiistry and good order. "In detestation of idleness,'' 

the idler was " to be sold to a master for wages till he 

1619. shewe ajiparent signes of amendment." Laws were made 
against playing of dice and cards, drunkenness, and other 
vices ; and to promote the " jilanting of corne," of vines, 
of mulberry trees, and the raising of flax and hemp. They 
made provision "towards the erecting of the University 
and College." This was designed for the education of 
their own children, as well as for " the most towardly boyes 
in witt and graces" of the " natives' children." The gov- 
ernor and council sat with the Assembly, and took part in 
its deliberations. It was granted. that a " generall Assem- 
bly should be held yearly once," " to ordain whatsoever 
laws and orders would be thought good and profitable for 
our subsistence." ' 

This right of the people to have a voice in making 
their own laws, was rigidly maintained until it found its 
full fruition in the institutions established one hundred 
and fifty years afterward by the Revolution. Emigration 
from England was greatly stimulated ; in a few years the 
population numbered nearly four thousand, while the 
inducements to industry and general prosperity increased 
in the same proportion. The company granted a written 
constitution, under which the people could have a legisla- 
,tive assembly of their own choosing. It was necessary 
that the laws passed by the colonial legislature should be 
sanctioned by the company in England. As a check to 
royal interference, no laws emanating from the court 
could be valid, unless ratified by the House of Burgesses. 
Thus it continued until the dissolution of the London com- 
pany, when King James arbitrarily took away its charter. 

' Art. IX., Vot. III., Part I. Second Scries of Collections of the New 
York Ilistoricul Society. The " Reporte" of the proceedings of this "First 
Assembly of Virginia," was discovered among the papers of the British 
State Paper Office. All trace of it had been lost for perliaps more than twc 
centuries ; at length a search, instituted by Bancroft the historian, was sac 
cessi'ul. 



CHAPTEE X. 

COLONIZATION OF NEW ENGLAND. 

First voyages to. — Plymouth Company. — Explorations of John Smith. — The 
Cliurch of England. — The Puiitan.s. — Congregation of John Robinson. — 
" Pilgrims" in Holland. — Arrangements to emigrate. — The Voyage. — 
A Constitution framed on board the May-Flower. — Landing at Plym- 
outh. — Sufferings. — Indians, Treaties with. — " Weston's Men. " — 
Thanksgiving. — Shares of the London Partners purchased. — Democratic 
Government. 

The usual route to America had been by the Canaries and cuap 
the West Indies. Bartholomew Gosnold was the first _^J_ 
navigator who attempted to find a shorter one, by sailing 1002. 
directly across the Atlantic. His effort was crowned with 
success : after a voyage of seven weeks, he came upon the 
coast in the vicinity of Nahant. Coasting along to the 
south, he landed upon a sandy point, which he named Cape 
Cod ; and passing round it he discovered Martha's Vine- 
yard, and several other islands in the vicinity. While he 
explored the coast he also traded with the natives, and 
when he had obtained a cargo of sassafras root, which in 
that day was much valued for its medicinal qualities, he 
sailed for home. The voyage consumed but five weeks, 
thus demonstrating the superiority of the new route. 

Gosnold, who saw the country in the months of May 
and June, was enraptured with its appearance — its forests 
blooming with shrubs and flowers; its springs of jiure fresh 
water, and little lakes; its beautiful islands nestling among 
equally beautiful bays along the coast. His description, 



58 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP, together with the shortness and safetj' of the voyage, led 
to many visits and minor discoveries by Martin Pring and 



1607. others, all along the coast of New England. 

The Plymouth Company, of which mention has been 
made, attempted to form a settlement at the month of the 
Kennebec in Maine. ■ The rigors of a severe winter, and the 
death of their president, so discouraged the colonists, that 
they abandoned the enterprise, and returned to England. 
A few years afterward. Smith, whoso valuable services 
we have seen in Virginia, undertook to explore the coun- 
try. He constructed a map of the. eastern portion, and 
noted the jDrominent featuies of the territory. The coun- 

1614. try he named New England — a name confirmed by the 
Prince of Wales, afterward Charles I. After Smith left 
for England, his associate, a captain named Hunt, treacher- 
ously enticed twenty-seven of the natives with their chief, 
Squanto, on board his ship, then set sail. He sold these 
victims of his avarice into slavery in Spain. A few of 
them were purchased by some friars, who kindly taught 
them, in order to send them back as missionaries to their 
countrymen. Among this number was Squanto. 

In this age, we are unable to appreciate fully the trials 
and sufferings experienced by the explorers ancl first settlers 
of this continent. When we remember the frailty of the 
vessels in which their voyages were made, the perils of the 
unexplored ocean, the dangers of its unknown coasts, the 
hostility of the wily savage, the diseases of an untried 
climate, the labor of converting the primitive forests into 
cultivated fields, we may well be astonished that such dif- 
ficulties were ever overcome. 

We have now to narrate the causes which led to the 
settlement of New England. Previous to the time of 
Henry VIII. the clergy and government of England had 
been in religious matters the implicit subjects of the church 
of Rome. While this may be said of the clergy it was dif- 
ferent with great numbers of the people. The spirit of 



THE EXILES EETURN HOME. 59 

religious truth was pervading their minds and moulding C^ap. 

their character. They read the Bible in their own Ian- 

guage, discussed freely its truths, and compared them with 1525. 
the doctrines and practices of the Romish church. The 
Pope claimed to be the temporal and spiritual head of the 
cliurch, and by virtue of this claim to depose princes or 
absolve subjects from their allegiance. Henry wished to 
be divorced from his queen in order to marry another ; but ' 
the Pope, to whom he applied, as the highest authority, 
hesitated to dissolve the marriage. The angry king, when 
threatened with excommunication, repudiated the Pope 
and his authority, and declared the English church iude- 1534. 
jiendent of that of Rome. Parliament afterward confirmed 
by law what the king in a fit of anger had done, and 
recognized him as the head of the church in his own do- 
minions. Thus England, 'by the act of her own govern- 
ment, became Protestant. True reformation in religion 
does not apply so much to its external form, as to its effect 
upon the hearts and consciences of men. That portion of 
the English people who had learned this truth from the 
Word of God, recognized no human being as the head of his 
church ; they received Christ alone as the Head of his own 
church, and they refused to acknowledge the pretensions 
of the king. For the maintenance of this belief they were ] 558. 
persecuted through a series of years : during the reign of 
Henry for not admitting his authority in spiritual matters ; 
during the reign of his daughter Mary, still more fiercely, 
Ibr denying the authority of the church of Rome. Many 
at the stake sealed their faith with their lives, and many 
fled to foreign lands. 

After the death of Mary the persecuting fires were ex- 
tinguished, and the accession of Elizabeth was the signal 
for the exiles to return home. They came back with more 
enlightened views of the rights of conscience and of free 
inquiry. Of these some were Presbyterians, some Con- 
grcgationalists, and others members of the Established 



60 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAX PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Church. They demanded a more pure and spiritual wor- 

ship than that of the church of England. For this they 

1558. were in derision called Pueitans — a name which they 
soon made respected, even by their enemies. Elizabeth 
was a Protestant, but she was far from being a Puritan. 
She wished to have a church that should reconcile all 
parties, whose ceremonies should be a happy medium be- 
tween the showy cliurch of Pome and the simple form of 
worship asked for by the Puritans. She contended stren- 
uously for her headship of the church, while the Puritan 
rejected the presumptuous doctrine. She demanded of her 
subjects implicit obedience to her in religious matters : 
the Puritan took the high groimd that it was his right to 
worship God according to his own conscience. 

Severe laws were passed from time to time, and they 
were enforced with unrelenting cruelty. All wei« en- 
joined to conform to certain ceremonies in worship. Those 
who did not comply were banished ; if they returned with- 
1603, out i^ermission, the penalty was death. The person accused 
was compelled to answer on oath all questions, whether per^ 
taining to himself or to his fellow-worshippers. Ministers 
who would not comply with these laws were driven from 
their parishes ; the members of their congregations were 
" beset and watched night and day ;" if they were de- 
tected in listening to their deprived ministers, or were 
absent a certain length of time from the services of the 
Established Church, they were fined and imprisoned, and 
punished in various ways. To avoid the effects of such 
intolerable laws, many bade farewell to their native land, 
and Holland and Switzerland became the asylum of some 
of the noblest men and women of England. 

Thus the contest had raged for nearly forty years, 
when, in the latter part of Queen Elizabeth's reign, the 
Puritans began to hope that the dark clouds of persecu- 
tion which had so long overshadowed the land would be 
dispelled under her successor, James I., who was edu- 



CONGREGATION OF JOHN KOBINSON. 6i 

cated in Scotland, principally under Presbyterian intlu- cuap 

ence. They had reason to believe he would protect them 

in the exercise of their form of worship. They were grossly 1603. 
deceived, and cruelly disappointed. When it was for his 
interest, James professed to be very favorable to the Kef- 
ormation, and more especially to the Puritan form. Upon 
one occasion, standing with his hands lifted up to heaven, 
he " praised God that he was king of such a Idrk — the 
purest kirk in all the world ; " adding, " As for the kirk of 
England, its service is an evil said mass." Such was the 
language of James just before he became king. The mo- 
ment he ascended the throne he threw off the mask, and 
openly proclaimed his famous maxim, " No bishop, no 
king." The Puritans humbly petitioned him for a redress 
of grievances ; he treated them with the greatest con- 
tempt. Said he to his bishops : " I will make them con- 
form, or I will harry them out of the land, or else worse : 
only hang them — that's all." 

During all these years they hoped for better times, and 
were unwilling to separate from the church of their fathers ; 
but suffering and persecution at length brought that hour. 
Hitheito individuals and families had gone into exile ; but 
now, in the north of England, a j^astor, with all his con- 
gregation, determined to leave their homes and flee to 
Holland, where there was already a church of English 
exiles. This was the congregation of John Robinson. 
These poor people were harassed by the minions of the 
king and clergy, and subjected to the petty annoyances 
dictated by religious intolerance. Preparations were made 
for them to leave. As they were about to sail, the officers 
of the government, with the connivance of the captain of i G08. 
the ship, came on board the vessel, and arrested the whole 
company ; searched their persons, took possession of their 
efiects, and carried them to prison ; men, women, and 
children. In a short time most of them were released ; 
only seven persons were brought to trial. They also 



62 



niSTOET OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 



CHAP were liberated. The court could not convict them of 

X. 

crime. 

1608. The members of the congregation persevered ; and soon 

they engaged a Dutch captain to take them from an un- 
frequented common. The women and children were to be 
taken to the place of embarkation in a small boat, the 
men to go by land. The latter reached the ship, and 
were taken on board. The boat containing the women 
and children was stranded, and before it could be got off 
they were seized by a party of their enemies. The cap- 
tain, lest he should become involved in difficulties with 
the English authorities, sailed immediately, taking with 
him the men, overwhelmed with grief for their defenceless 
wives and children in the hands of their cruel oppressors. 
The poor women and helpless children were dragged, suf- 
fering from cold, hunger, and fear, before a magistrate, as 
if they had been guilty of crime. They were treated very 
harshly, but were finally permitted to join their husbands 
and fathers in Holland. 

Now they were Pilgrims indeed, strangers in a strange 
land ; "but they lifted up their eyes to heaven, their 
dearest country, and quieted their spirits." They re- 
mained about a year at Amsterdam ; not satisfied, how- 
ever, they removed to Leyden. Their integrity and in- 
dustry, their piety and self-denial, in what they believed 
to be the cause of truth, elicited the respect of the 
Dutch. The government officers would have treated 
them with marked favor, but they feared to offend King 
James. From year to year they received accessions from 
their .brethren in England. They were still surrounded 
by evils, which made it necessary for them again to 
change their homes. Their labors were severe ; though 
frugal and industrious, they obtained a support with 
great difficulty. The desecration of the Sabbath, the 
dissolute morals of the disbanded soldiers and sailors 
among whom they were thrown, caused them to fear for 



THEY APPLY TO THE LONDON COMPANY. 63 

their children. Holland conld not be their permanent chap. 

home. It dawned upon the minds of the more intelligent, 

that it was their duty to seek some other land. Their 1616. 
thoughts were directed to the wilderness of the New 
World. They express not a wish in regard to worldly 
comfort, but a desire to consecrate all to the great cause 
of promoting Christianity. 

Though they had been so harshly treated by England, 
they loved her still, and were not willing to accept the 
offers made them, to colonize under the protection of the 
Dutch. They had heard of the fine climate and the set- 
tlement of Virginia, and resolved to apply to the London igi7 
Company for permission to emigrate to their territory. For 
this purpose they sent two of their number, John Carver 
and Robert Cushman, to confer with the company. Their 
proposition was favorably received by the excellent Sir 
Edwin Sandys, the secretary. Their request, signed by the 
greater part of the congregation, was afterward sent to the 
company. In it they made a summary of their principles, 
and a statement of their motives of action. They said, " We 
verily believe that God is with us, and will prosper us in our 
endeavors ; we are weaned from our mother country, and 
have learned patience in a hard and strange land. We 
are industrious and frugal ; we are bound together by a 
sacred bond of the Lord, whereof we make great con- igjg^ 
science, holding ourselves to each other's good. We cfo not 
wish ourselves home again ; we have nothing to hope from 
England or Holland ; we are men who will not be easily 
discouraged."' 

They were to emigrate under the sanction of the com- 
pany ; but owing to dissensions in the company itself, the 
plan was not carried out. At this time the king was op- 
pressing their brethren in England more and more ; the 
only favor the PDgrims could obtain from him was a half 
promise that he would not molest them in the wUds of 
America In truth, James wished to be freed from those ' 



64 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, of his subjects who had any just notions of human right\ 
_!__ Said he, " I would rather live like a hermit in the forest, 
1619. than he a king over such people as the pack of Puritans 
that overrule the House of Commons !" 

There wan yet another difficulty. The Pilgrims were 
poor — poor indeed ; in their persecution and exile they had 
lost their all. Upon very hard conditions they secured the 
means to emigrate ; yet they were willing to make any 
sacrifice could they but worship God in peace, and protect 
the morals of their children. 

A company was now formed of London merchants, who 
agreed to furnish the money, while the emigrant was to 
give his entire services for seven years ; these services were 
to constitute his stock in the company. The profits were 
to be reserved to the end of that time, then a valuation of 
all the property held by the company was to be made, and 
1C20. the amount distributed to each in proportion to his in- 
vestment. By contract, the merchant who invested ten 
pounds received as much as the colonist who gave seven 
years of labor. This throwing of all their labor and capital 
into a common stock, was the result of necessity, not of 
choice. 

They purchased one ship, the Speedwell, and hired 
another, the May-Flower, a ship of one hundred and eighty 
tons. As these vessels could carry only a part of the con- 
gregation, they determined to send the younger and more 
vigorous, while the pastor, Kobinson, and the aged and in- 
firm, were to remain at Leyden. Their ruling Elder, 
William Brewster, who had suffered much in 'the cause, 
and was respected and loved for his integrity,^ was to 
conduct the emigrants. Before they left, they observed a 
day of fasting and prayer. They " sought of God a right 
way for themselves and their little ones." 

The parting address of the venerable Kobinson gives 

us a glimpse of the princij^les in which, from year to year, 

■ he had instructed them. As he addressed them for the 



THE EMBARKATION. 65 ' 

last time, he said : " I charge you before God and his holy ci^p. 
angels, that you follow me uo farther than you have seen 



me follow the Lord Jesus Christ. If God reveal any thing 1620. 
to you, be ready to receive it ; for I am verily persuaded 
the Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of his Holy 
Word. I beseech you remember it is an article of your 
church covenant, that you be ready to receive whatever 
truth shall be made known to jou from the written Word 
of God. Take heed what you receive as truth ; examine 
it, consider it, and compare it with other scriptures of 
truth before you receive it ; the Christian world has not 
yet come to the perfection of knowledge." 

A number of their brethren came from Leyden to 
Delft-Haven, where they were to embark. The night 
before their departure was passed in religious inter- 
course and prayer : as the morning dawned, they prepared 
to go on board the ship. On the shore they all knelt, 
and the venerable Kobinson led them in prayer — they 
heard his voice for the last time. They sailed first to 
Southampton ; iu a fortnight they left that place for their 
distant home. It is soon discovered that the Speedwell 
needs repairs, and they must return. After the lapse of Aug. 
eight days of precious time, again they make the attempt, ^• 
and still again the captain of the Speedwell asserts that his 
ship cannot cross the Atlantic. They put back to Plym- 
outh : they there leave the Speedwell, and those whose 
courage failed them, and to the number of one hundred and 
one once more commit themselves to the winds and waves, 
trusting to the good providence of God. Sept. 

Let us glance for a moment at the circumstances and ®" 
characteristics of this comjjany. They were bound to- 
gether by the strong bond of religious sympathy — united 
in interest and purpose, they expected to endure, to suffer, 
to rejoice together for many years, even to the end of life. 

Prominent among them was William Brewster, the 
ruling elder and lay preacher, already mentioned, who was 
5 • 



bb niSTOKY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, to supply the place of the pastor Eobinson. He was a man 
' of education, of refined associations, and above all of a 

1620. lovely and Christian spirit. " He laid his hand to the daily 
tasks of life, as well as spent his soul in trying to benefit 
his fellows — so bringing himself as near as possible to the 
early Christian practices ; he was worthy of being the first 
minister of New England." ' There was also the dignified 
and benevolent John Carver, the worthy governor of this 
band of Christian exiles, who in the cause laid down his 
fortune, and at length his life — for he soon sank beneath 
the hardships to which he was unused. These two were 
comparatively old men, but most of the " Pilgrim 
Fathers " were in the bloom and vigor of life. 

William Bradford was but thirty-two, earnest, saga- 
cious, true and steady in piurpose, " a man of nerve and 
public spirit ;" self-educated, and so ardent in the pursuit 
of knowledge, that amidst all his trials and labors, he 
accumulated books, and found time to read and even to 
study them. As a farmer's boy in England, as a dyer in 
Holland, as the governor of a small nation in the wilds of 
America, he acted well his part. 

Edward Winslow was " a gentleman born," with a 
mind cultivated by travel and books ; gentle in manner as 
in spirit, his soul melted at the sorrows of others. Miles 
Standish was a soldier, fearless, but not rash ; impetuous, 
but not vindictive : though not a member of the church, 
he was strongly attached to its institutions and to its most 
rigorous advocates. Winslow was twenty-six, and Stan- 
dish thirty-six years of age. 

■ ff^,y A tedious voyage of sixty-three days brought them in 

10. sight of Cape Cod. They had left their native .land to 

seek in a howling wilderness an asylum from persecution. 

They had not the sanction of a charter from their king, 

and they appealed to no body of men for protection : they 

■ Elliott's History of New England. 



A CONSTITUTION ADOPTED. &1 

must have a government ; they were all on an equality, cjiap. 

and they now drew up a constitution, or compact, to which 

the men, servants and all, to the number of fortj'-one, sub- 1620. 
scribed their names, and mutually pledged their obedience. 

The words of this first constitution, made and adopted 
by an entire people, plainly indicate whence its principles 
were derived. They say, " In the name of God, amen : 
we whose names are underwritten, having undertaken for 
the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith, 
a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of 
Virginia, do solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, 
and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together 
into a body politic ; and by virtue hereof, to enact such 
just and equal laws from time to time, as shall be thought 
most convenient for the good of the colony. Unto which 
we promise all due submission and obedience." Thus the 
principle of popular liberty, that laws and constitutions 
should be framed for the benefit of the entire peoide, found 
its utterance in the cabin of the May-Flower, by the act 
of the people themselves. 

John Carver was elected governor for one year. Miles 
Standish, who had been an officer in the army sent by 
Queen Elizabeth to aid the Dutch against the Spaniards, 
was chosen captain. Winter was coming on — they were 
anxious to land, but unfortunately the shallop needed 
repairs. In the mean time Standish, Bradford, and others, 
impatient of delay, went to seek a convenient harbor, and 
a suitable place for a settlement. The country was covered 
with snow ; in one place they found some baskets of com, 
and in another an Indian burial-ground. 

In a fortnight the shallop was ready for use, and the 
governor, Winslow, Bradford, and Standish, with others 
and some seamen, went to explore the bay. The cold was 
intense, freezing the spray of the sea on their clothes, until, 
as they expressed it, they were made as hard as iron. They 
landed occasionallj^, found graves and a few deserted wig- 



68 HISTOKT OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, warns, but no other evidence of human beinrrs. On one of 

^ these occasions they encamped at night on the shore near 

1620. where the shallop was moored. The next morning as they 
were closing their devotions, they were startled by a strange 
cry — the war-whoop of the savage — it was accompanied by 
a flight of arrows. At the report of their guns the Indians 
fled. All that day was spent in seeking a safe harbor for 
the ship. Near night a violent storm of rain and snow 
drove them through the breakers into a cove, protected 
from the blast by a hill. In the midst of the tempest they 
landed, and with difficulty kindled a fire. In the morning 
they found they were on an island at the entrance of a 
harbor. The next day was the Sabbath ; though urged by 
eveiy consideration to hasten to the ship, they religiously 
observed the day. 

On the morrow, Decemher twenty-second, one thousand 
Dec. six hundred and twenty — a day ever to be remembered in 
^^- the annals of our country, the Pilgrims landed. The 
place they named after the town in England from 
which they last sailed. The blessings which have flowed 
from the settlement of New England are associated with 
the spot where they first set foot — the EocK of Plym- 
outh. 

No time was spent in idleness. A place was selected 
for the settlement, and divided into lots for families. On 
the third day they began to build ; their houses went up 
but slowly ; the forest trees miist first be felled and split 
into timbers ; the season was inclement — their strength 
failed them : many from exposure had received into their 
bodies the seeds of death ; many were sick, and many died. 
At one time there were only seven of the whole company 
not disabled by sickness. During the winter, more than 
forty were numbered with the dead; among these were the 
wives of Bradford and Winslow, and also Rose, the young 
bride of Miles Standish. The benevolent Carver lost his 
son — then he himself sunk in death, soon to be followed 



PRIVATIONS AND HEROISM. 69 

by his broken-hearted widow. They were all buried but chap. 

a short distance from the rock on which they had landed. 

Lest the many graves should tell the Indians the story of 1621. 
weakness and of death, the spot where they rested was f" 
levelled and sown with grass. At length spring drew near, 
and warm winds from the south moderated the cold. The 
trees began to put forth their foliage, and among their t 
branches the "birds to sing pleasantly," while the sick 
were gradually recovering. 

When the May-Flower left for England, not one of 
these heroic men and women desired to leave the land of 
their adoption. They had now a government ; they had a 
church covenant ; they had a constitution under which 
their rights were secured, and each one according to his 
individual merit could be respected and honored. So dear 
to them were these privileges, that all the privations they 
had suffered, the sickness and death which had been in 
their midst, the gloomy prospect before them, could not 
induce them to swerve from their determination to found a 
State, where these blessings should be the birth-right of 
their children. 

Famine jjressed hard upon them, for in the autumn Kov, 
they were joined by some new emigrants, who had come ^''• 
ill-provisioned ; and for the succeeding six months they 
had only half a supply. " I have seen men," says Wins- 
low, " stagger by reason of faintness for want of food." 
Their privations for two or three years were greater than 
those of any colony planted in the country. But their 
implicit confidence in tl^ goodness of God was never 
shaken. At times Indian^ were seen hovering around theii * 
settlement, but no communication had been held with 
them, as they fled when approached. One day, to their 
surprise, an Indian boldly entered their village, crying out, 
welcome Englishmen ! Jffcelcome Englishmen ! It was 
Samoset. He belongecB^f the Wampanoags, a tribe living 



70 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN^ PEOPLE. 

CHAP, iu tlie vicinity. He had learned a few English words fron? 
' the fishermen on the Penobscot. , 

iiiii. Samoset, in the name of his tribe, told the Pilgrims 

to possess the land, for the year before those to whom it 
belonged had been swept away by a pestilence. This an- 
nouncement was a great relief to their fears. Samoset 
I soon again appeared, and with him Squanto, who, as has 
been mentioned, had been kidnapped and sold into slavery 
in Spain, had been freed, found his way to England, and 
finaUy home. They announced that Massasoit, the grand 
sachem of the Wampanoags, desired an interview. The 
chief and his retinue of warriors had taken their position 
on a neighboring hill. Squanto acted as interpreter. A 
treaty of friendship was made between the chief and the 
English, by which they promised to defend each other 
when attacked by enemies. For more than fifty yeai's, till 
King Philip's war, this treaty was observed. The Pil- 
grims offered to pay for the baskets of corn they had 
found buried ; this they did six months afterward when 
the owners appeared. A trade, very beneficial to the 
colony, commenced with the Indians, who promised to sell 
them all their furs. 

Why not remember the humble services of Squanto.!* 
The Pilgrims looked upon him as " a special instrument 
sent of God for their good beyond their expectation." He 
taught them how to plant corn, to put fish with it to make 
it grow, where to find the fish and how to take them. He 
was their interpreter and their pilot. Under his tuition 
they soon raised corn so abundantly as to have a surplus to 
• exchange with the Indians for furs. By means of these 
furs they obtained from England the merchandise they 
wanted. He remained their friend till his death, and when 
dying asked the governor to pray that he might go to 
the " Englilfcian's G-nd iu heaven." 

Massasoit desired the alliance with the Pilgrims as a 
protection against Canonicus, the chief of the powerful 



" Weston's men." 71 

Narragansetts, who lived on the shores of the beautiful bay ch^p. 

which bears their name. Canonicus was not, however, to 

be deterred from exhibiting his hostility. As a challenge 1622. 
he sent to Plymouth some arrows wrapped in the skm of 
a rattlesnake. Bradford, who was now governor, sent 
back the same skin filled with powder and shot. The In- 
dians looked upon it as containing a deadly influence, to 
be exerted against the enemies of the English. In terror 
they sent it from tribe to tribe, none of wjiom dared either 
keep or destroy it. Finally, the skin and its contents 
were returned to the colony. Canonicus himself, in a 
short time, desired an alliance of peace ; evidently more 
from fear than from good-will. 

In trade the Pilgrims took no advantage of the igno- 
rance of the Indians. They became involved in difficul- 
ties with them, however, through the improper conduct 
of others. 

Thomas Weston, a merchant of London, who had in- 
vested money in the enterprise of founding the Plymouth 
Colony, now wished to engross the entire profits of the fur 
trade with the Indians. He obtained a patent for a small 
district, near Weymouth, on Boston harbor, and sent over 
about sixty men, chiefly indented servants. These men 
ill treated the Indians, stole their corn, and thus excited 
their hostility. The savage seeks redress by murdering 
those who do him wrong. The Indians did not distinguish 
between the honesty and good-will of the Pilgrims, and 
the dishonesty and evil acts of " Weston's men ;" they 
plotted to involve all the white strangers in one common 
ruin. Massasoit was dangerously sick ; Winslow kindly 
visited him ; turned out of the wigwam the Indian doctors, 
who were making a great noise to drive off the disease, and 
relieved the chief by giving him medicine and quiet. The 
grateful Massasoit revealed the plot. The people were 
greatly alarmed ; they had heard of a terrible massacre in 
■Virginia, and they feared such would be their own expe- 



Mar. 
23. 



72 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, rience. Not a moment was to be lost ; they must act in 

self-defence. Captain Standish hastened with eight men 

1623. to the assistance of those at Weymouth. He arrived in 
time not only to prevent the attack, but to surprise the 
Indians themselves. In the conflict, the principal plotting 
chief and some of his men were killed. This exploit 
taught the Indians to respect the English ; many of the 
neighboring chiefs now sought jDcace and alliance. When 
the good pastor, Mr. Eobinson, heard of this conflict, he 
exclaimed, " Oh 'that they had converted some before they 
killed any ! " One year saw the beginning and the end of 
this trading establishment at Weymouth. Apprehension 
of danger from the natives was now removed. 

As tlianksgiving has now become a national festival, 
the manner in which it was first instituted has a peculiar 
interest. In the autumn of 1623, after the fruits of the 
harvest were gathered in, Governor Bradford sent out a 
company for game, to furnish dainty materials for a feast. 
God had blessed their labors, and this was to be a feast of 
THANKS-GIVING. " So they met together and thanked 
God with all their hearts, for the good world and the good 
things in it." 

The merchant partners in England complained of the 
small profits derived from their investments. They began 
to neglect the interests o( the colony, and to manifest their 
displeasure in various ways. They would not permit 
Robinson and his family, with the remainder of the church 
at Leyden, to join their friends at Plymouth. They sold 
the colonists goods at enormous prices, and sent a ship tc 
rival them in their limited fur trade. They outraged theii 
feelings by attempting to force upon them one Lyford, a 
clergyman friendly to the Established Church. Lyford was 
expelled from Plymouth, not on account of his rehgious 
views, but, according to Bradford, for conduct injurious to 
the colony and immorality. 

In time industry and frugality triumphed ; the Pil- 



DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT. 73 

grims in five or six years were able to purchase the entire chap. 

stock of those who were annoying them in this ungenerous 

manner. The stock and the land were equitably divided, Nov. 
and the arrangement of private property fully carried out, 
each one becoming the owner of a piece of land. 

Though the Pilgrims had no charter, they formed a 
government upon the most liberal principles. They had a 
governor, who was chosen by the people, and whose power 
was limited by a council of five. For' more than eighteen 
years the whole male population were the legislators. 1640. 

They were the pioneers of religious freedom — the 
openers of an asylum in the New World, to which the 
persecuted for religion's sake, and political opinions, have 
been flocking from that day to this. Says Governor Brad- 
ford, in his history of the colony: "Out of small begin- 
nings great things have been produced, by His hand that 
made all things out of nothing ; and as one small candle 
will light a thousand, so the light here kindled' hath shone 
to many, yea to our whole nation." 



CHAPTER XI. 

COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAT. 

A Company organized. — Settlement of Salem. — The Charter tran-sferred. — 
Boston and Tieinity settled. — Encouragements. — Disputes. — Roger 
Williams; his Banishment; he founds Pro\idence. — Discussions re- 
newed. — Anne Hutchinson. — Settlement of Rhode Island. — The Dutch 
at Hartford ; Disputes with. — Migrations to the fertile Valley of the Con- 
necticut; Hooker and Haynes. — Springfield. — Fort at Saybroolic. — Pe- 
quods become hostile. — E.speditions against them; their utter Ruin. — 
Eev. John Davenport. — Settlement of New Haven. — Sir Ferdinand 
Gorges. — Xew Hampshire. — -The United Colonies. — The Providence 
Plantations. — Educated Men. — Harvard College. — The Printing Press. — 
Common Schools. — Grammar Schools. — Quakers; Persecution of. — Eliot 
the Apostle. — The Mayhews. — Progress. 

CHAP. Persecution raged through the reign of James, and 

'__ threatened to continue through the reign of his son and 

1624. successor, Charles I. 

The various accounts sent to England by the colonists 
at Plymouth, excited great interest, especially in the 
minds of the Puritans. They listened to them as to a 
voice from Heaven, calling upon them to leave their native 
land, and join their brethren in these ends of the earth. 
This was not wild enthusiasm, but the calm promptings 
of duty. 

Pamphlets were published giving descriptions of the 
land of promise ; it promised not wealth and ease, but only 
peace and quietness. There were "many who preferred 
these, with toils and privations in the wilds of America, to 
religious persecutions in their own land. 




>f^ 






r 


• s. A 


•ST 

y 




J)<pcf1^£ KENS' 



/, 









SEBASTIAN CABOT. 



AMERICUS VESPUCCI. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF SALEM. 75 

The Eev. Mr. White, of Dorchester, was a controlling chap 

spirit in the enterjirise. He was a Puritan, but not of the 

Separatists from the Established Church, as were Eobin- I0t2i. 
son and Ms cono-reoation. 

The Council of Plymouth had taken the place of the i620. 
old Plymouth Company. This council had no worthier 
object than gain ; it granted the same region to different 
individuals, and thus laid the foundation for endless dis- 
putes. It sold to some gentlemen of Dorchester a belt of 
territoiy, extending from three miles south of Massachu- 
setts bay to three miles north of any part of Merrimac 1628. 
river, and, as usual, west to the Pacific. The company 
pre^iared to send a colony. The care of the enterprise 
was intrusted to one of their number, John Endicott, a 
man of stern character and sterling integrity. He brought 
with him his family, and about one hundred other per- 
sons ; they landed at Salem, and there commenced the 
colony of Massachusetts Bay. Men of wealth and influ- Sept. 
ence, such as Winthrop, Thomas Dudley, Saltonstall, Bel- 
lingham, Johnson, Simon Bradstreet, William Codding- 
ton, and others, who afterward exerted a great influence 
in the colony, were willing to bear a part in carrying the 
"pure gospel" to New England. The king looked upon 
the colony about to be founded more as a trading corpo- 
ration than as the germ of an independent nation, and he 
willingly gave them a charter, under which they lived more 
than fifty years. By the tei-ms of this charter the royal jj,,r. 
signature was not necessary to give validity to the laws ^629. 
made under it. 

Soon another choice company, in which ", no idle per- 
sons were found," was ready to sail. The good Francis 
Higginson accompanied them as their minister. As the 
shores of England receded from sight, Higginson expressed 
the feelings of the emigrants ; as from the deck of the ship 
his eyes turned for the last time to his native land, he 
exclaimed, " Farewell, England ! — farewell, all Christian 



"iQ HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, frieuds ! — we separate not from the church, but from its 

. corruptions ; — we go to spread the gospel in America." 

1629. There were about two hundred in this company ; the ma- 
' jority remained at Salem, the rest went to Charlestowu. 
Privations and exposure brought sickness, and before the 
end of a year death had laid his hand on more than half 
their number, among whom was their pastor, Higginson. 
When the summons came, the dying seemed only to re- 
gret that they were not permitted to aid their brethren in 
founding a pure church in the wilderness. 

The charter contained no provision for the rights of 
the peojile, it left them at the mercy of the corporation ; 
and as long as that charter remained in England, they 
could take no part in their own government. It was also 
silent on the subject of their religious freedom ; at any 
moment this might be interfered with by the king and his 
clergy. There was only one way to be freed from such 
imdue interference. By the charter their governing coun- 
cil could choose the place of meeting for the transaction 
of business. It was a bold step ; but they chose, here- 
after, to meet on the soil of the colony. This transfer of 
the governing council and charter made its government 
virtually independent. 

The officers were to be a governor, a deputy governor, 
and eighteen assistants. These were elected before leav- 
1630. ing England. John Winthrop was chosen governor, and 
Thomas Dudley deputy governor. A fleet of seventeen 
ships set sail with the officers elect, and fifteen hundred 
emigrants ; they arrived in June and July. Their arrival 
was opportune, for those who had preceded them were in 
great distress from sickness and scarcity of food. 

Settlements were now made at various places around 
the bay; Charlestown, Newtown, Dorchester, Watertown. 
A fine spring of pure water, on the peninsula called Shaw- 
mut, induced the governor and some other persons to settle 
there. The position was central, and it became the capital, 



ENCOURAGEMENTS. 77 

under the name of Boston. The change of climate and chap- 

mode of living brought disease upon great numbers ; yet . 

they looked upon their sorrows as so many trials, designed 1C30. 
to make them appreciate still more the blessings which 
the future had in store for them. As they hoped, these 
evils gradually passed away, and prosperity smiled. 

At first, the assistants could hold ofiice for life, and 
in addition it was their privilege to elect the governor. 
The people became jealous of their liberties ; the dispute 
was compromised by their electing their magistrates annu- 
ally. They were to be chosen by the freemen of the 1631, 
colony, of whom no one who was not a church member 
could have a vote. This law was injudicious, though 
enacted with the best intentions. They wished a govern- 
ment based on purely religious principles, and they thought 
to secure such a government by allowing none but the 
religious to take part in it. Another change was made 
from the purely democratic form, when all the freemen 
met in convention and voted on the laws, to that of the 
republican, when the people elected deputies, who were au- 
thorized to legislate and transact the affairs of the colony. 

The colonists dealt honestly with the Indians and en- 
deavored to preserve their good will. They " were to 
buy their lands, and not to intrude upon, and in no respect 
injure them ;" they also " hoped to send the gospel to the 
poor natives." Many of the neighboring chiefs desired 
their friendship. One came from the distant river Con- 
necticut ; he extolled its fertile valleys and blooming 
meadows ; he offered them land near him, because he 
wished their protection against the brave and fiery 
Pequods. Fraternal and Christian intercourse was held 
from time to time with the old colony of Plymouth ; as a 
harbinger of the future, there came from Virginia a vessel 
laden with corn ; and the Dutch, who some years before 
had settled at Manhattan, visited them with kindly greet- 
ings. Thus dawned a brighter day. 



78 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP. During this year more than three thousand persona 

came from England, many of whom were men of influence, 

1635. wealth, and education. Prominent among these was Hugl\ 
Peters, an eloquent clergjTuan, and Harry Varie, a young 
man of much promise, the son and heir of a privy-council- 
lor — a fact of some importance in the eyes of the jieople. 
Vane, however, was a true Kepublican. The people the 
next year unwisely elected him governor, in place of the 
dignified and benevolent Winthrop. 

The Puritans had experienced all the evils of religious 
intolerance, but unfortunately they had not themselves 
learned to be lenient. In the colony there was a young 
clergyman, Eoger Williams, a man of ardent temperament, 
a clear reasoner, and very decided in his opinions. He 
came in conflict with the magistrate^ as he advanced sen- 
timents which they deemed subversive of all authority, — 
such as that obedience to the magistrate should not be en- 
forced — that the oath of allegiance should not be required : 
he also denounced the law that compelled all persons to 
attend worship, as an infringement of the rights of con- 
science ; he said the service of the church shoidd be sup- 
ported by its members, and not by a tax upon all the peo- 
ple. His principles were in advance of the age in which 
he lived : one hundred and forty years after this time they 
were fully carried out. He contended that the charter 
from the king was invalid ; the Indians were the original 
proprietors. The people repelled the aspersion as unjust, 
because they had purchased their lands from the Indians, 
and acknowledged their rights by making treaties with 
them. The contest waxed warm. Williams accepted an 
invitation to Salem : the people of that place were admon- 
Oct., ished by the General Court to beware, lest they should 
encourage sedition. Upon this he retired to Plymouth, — 
there for two years he maintained his opinions unmo- 
lested. The people of the old colony had learned the les- 
son of toleration in their exile in Holland. 



WILLIAMS A WANDERER. 79 

Williams was again invited to Salem, in open defiance cdap. 

of the authority of the General Court, the governing power 

of the colony. A committee of ministers held conferences 1035. 
and discussions with him, but without inducing him to 
retract. As the people of Salem sustained him, the Court 
admonished them, and pronounced the sentence of banish- 
ment against Williams. It was not the expression of 
opinions on the subject of conscience, or " soul-oppression," 
as he termed it, that alarmed the Court, but the expression 
of opinions which, if carried into effect, would, they affirmed, 
destroy all human government. 

In midwinter, Williams became a wanderer for con- 
science' sake. He went to the sons of the forest for that 
protection denied him by his Christian brethren. For four- 
teen weeks he wandered ; sometimes he received the simple 
hospitality of the natives ; sometimes his lodging-place was 
a hollow-tree. At last he was received into the cabin of 
Massasoit, at Mount Hope. He was the Indians' friend, 
and they loved him. He thought of settling at Seekonk, 
on Pawtucket river; that place being within the bounds of 
the Plymouth colony, Winslow, the governor, advised him 
to remove beyond their limits, lest it should create ditS- 
culty with the Bay colony. Williams received this advice 
in the spirit in which it was given, and removed to the 
country of the Narragansets. With five companions in a 
canoe, he went round to the west side of the arm of the 
bay. Landing at a beautiful spot, he found a spring of 
pure water. He resolved there to make a settlement. In 
thankfulness he called the place Providence. Tradition jcgg. 
at this day points out the spring near which he built his 
cabin. Canonicus, the chief of the Narragansets, would 
not sell his land, but gave him a little domain " to enjoy 
forever." , 

Williams here put in practice his theory of government. 
The land was given to him, and he distributed it to his 
followers. It was purely a government of the people. AD 



80 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



cii-^i^- promised to obey the voice of the majority in temporal 
things : in things spiritual, to obey only God. 

1637. Discussions were still rife in Massachusetts on all sub- 
jects. The men held meetings, in which they discussed 
matters pertaining to their liberties ; edified each other 
with e.xpositions of passages of Scripture, and criticized the 
weekly sermons of their ministers. As women were not 
allowed to speak in these meetings, Mrs. Anne Hutchin- 
son, a woman of great eloquence and talent, thought the 
rights of her sex were not properly respected ; she there- 
fore held meetings for their benefit at her own house. At 
these meetings, theological opinions were advocated, at 
variance with those of the ministers and magistrates. The 
people became divided into two parties, and the affair soon 
took a political turn : on the one side were arrayed Win- 
throp and the older settlers, and with few exceptions, the 
ministers : on the other. Governor Vane and the adherents 
of Mrs. Hutchinson. She and her party were accustomed 
to speak of themselves as " being under a covenant of 
grace," and of their 02)ponents as " being under a covenant 
of works." These indefinite phrases irritated her opjionents 
exceedingly. They proclaimed her a despiser of all sjiirit- 
ual authority ; " like Eoger Williams, or worse ;" and 
darkly insinuated that she was a witch. The friends of 
Mrs. Hutchinson spoke of appealing to the king; this was 
downright treason in the eyes of their opponents, — their 
allegiance was given to the government of the colony, not 
to the king. A convention of ministers was held, they 
investigated her doctrines, and declared them unsound and 
injurious. At the ensuing election, Winthrop was chosen 
governor; and soon after Vane left for England. Mrs. 
Hutchinson and her followers were admonished, but with- 
out effect ; she, with her brother-in-law John Wheelwright, 

1638. and others, were exiled from the colony. How much wiser 
it would have been had the magistrates permitted her to 



THE DUTCH AT HABTFORD. 81 



exercise her " gift of discussing," even if she did say they *^^.^p 

were " under a covenant of works !" j 

Eoger Williams invited the exiles to settle in his vicin- 1638. 
ity. By his influence they obtained from Miantonomoh, 
the nephew and prospective successor of Canonicus, a 
beautiful island, which they named the Isle of Khodes. 
Here this little company of not more than twenty persons, 
formed a settlement. William Coddington, who had been 
a magistrate in the Bay Colony, was elected judge or ruler. 
They, too, covenanted with each other to obey the laws 
made by the majority, and to respect the rights of con- Oct. 
science. Mrs. Hutchinson and her family remained here 
several years, and then removed farther west beyond New 
Haven, into the territory of the Dutch ; there she and all 
her family who were with her, with the exception of one 
daughter, who was taken captive, were murdered by the 
Indians. 16-1-3. 

The Dutch from Manhattan explored the Connecticut ■^|•-^^ 
river six years before the landing of the Pilgrims at 
Plymouth. They erected a fortified trading-house near 
where Hartford now stands, but by ill-treating the In- 
dians they excited their hostility, and lost a trade that 
might have been valuable. 

Unable to occupy the territory, and unwilling to lose 
its advantages, they invited the Pilgrims to leave the 1627. 
sterile soil of Plymouth and remove to the fertile vales of 
the Connecticut, and live under their protection. The 
invitation was not accepted ; but as the Pilgrims were 
convinced that a change to more fertile lands was desira- 
ble, Governor Winslow went on an exploring tour to that 
region ; having found the soil as fertile as had been repre- ig32. 
Bcnted he promoted emigration. 

The Council of Plymouth had given a grant of Connec- 1630. 
ticut to the Earl of Warwick, who the next year trans- 
ferred his claim or patent to Lords Say and Brooke, John 
6 



82 HISTOET OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Hampden, aud others. The eastern boundary of this grant 

was the Narraganset river, and the western the Pacific 

1033. ocean. When the Dutch learned of this grant, they pur- 
chased of the Indians the tract of land in the vicinity of 
Hartford, on which stood their trading-house, and pre- 
pared to defend their rights ; they erected a fort and 
mounted two cannons, to prevent the English from ascend- 
ing the river. In the latter part of the year Captain 
"William Holmes, who was sent by Governor Winslow, 
arrived in a sloop, with a company, and prepared to make a 
settlement. The Dutch commandant threatened him with 
destruction if he should attempt to pass his fort. The 
undaunted Holmes passed by uninjured, and put up a 
fortified house at Windsor. He was not pei'mitted to en- 
joy his place in peace ; the next year the Dutch made an 
etfort to drive him away, but not succeeding they compro- 
mised the matter by relinquishing all chaim to the valley. 
The parties agreed upon a dividing Hne, very nearly the 
same as that existing at this day between the States of 
New York and Connecticut. As the natural meadows on 
the Connecticut would furnish much more grass and hay 
for their cattle than the region nearer the sea-shore, many 
of the Pilgrims determined to remove thither. 
1635. The following autumn, a party of sixty persons, men, 

women, and children, undertook the desperate work of 
going through the woods and swamps from Plymouth to 
Connecticut. The journey was laborious and the sufier- 
ing great. When they arrived at the river the ground 
was covered with snow, the precursor of an unusually severe 
Kov. winter. A sloop from Plymouth, laden with provisions 
and their household furniture, failed to reach them on 
account of storms and ice. Their cattle all perished ; a 
little corn obtained from the Indians, and acorns, were their 
only food ; they barely escaped starvation. 

During this year three thousand persons came to Bos- 
ton from England. Among these was the Reverend 



JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 83 

Thomas Hooker, who has been called " The Liiiht of the ciiap. 



XI. 



163«. 



Western Churches." He was a man of great eloquence, 
and of humble piety ; his talents, of a high order, com- 1635 
manded universal resj^ect, while his modesty won him 
ardent friends. When he was silenced for non-conformity 
in England, great numbers of the clergy of the Established 
Church petitioned that he might be restored. But in 
those days to be a Non-Conformist was an unpardonable 
offence. 

A portion of his congregation had emigrated the year 
before. When he arrived at Boston with the remainder 
of his flock, the colony was in a ferment — the Williams 
controversy was going on ; his iseople were wearied with 
the turmoil. John Haynes, who was a meuiber of his 
congregation in England, and who had been Governor of 
Massachusetts, determinedj with others, to remove to Con- 
necticut. In the spring, a company, under the lead of Mar. 
Hooker and Haynes, set out from the vicinity of Boston 
for the pleasant valley. They numbered about one hun- 
dred persons, some of whom had been accustomed to the 
luxuries of life in England. With no guide but a com- 
pass they entered the untrodden wilderness ; toiled on foot 
over hills and valleys ; waded through swamps and forded 
streams. They subsisted principally on the milk of the 
kine that they drove before them, and which browsed on 
the tender leaves and grass. They moved but slowly. 
Their sick they carried on litters. The trustful spirit of 
piety and faith was present, and the silence of the forest 
was broken for the first time by Christian songs of 
praise. The man whose eloquence in his native land at- 
tracted crowds of the educated and refined, now, in the 
wilderness, comforted and cherished the humble exiles for re- 
ligion's sake. The first of July brought an end to their la- 
borious journey. The greater part of the company remained 
at Hartford ; some went up the river and founded Spring- 
field ; some went down and joined those at Wethersfield. 



8i HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 

^xi^' Jobn Wiuthrop, the younger, who had been sent to 

England on business for the colony, returned as agent for 

1036. Lords Say and Brooke. He was directed to build a fort 
at the mouth of the Connecticut river ; it was named 
1 635. Saybrooke. 

These settlements were now threatened with destruc- 
tion. The valley of the river and the region adjoining 
were more densely populated with Indians than any por- 
tion of New England. The powerful Pequods, the most 
warlike tribe in the country, numbered almost two thou- 
sand warriors, and ruled over a number of smaller tribes ; 
they inhabited the south-eastern part of Connecticut, 
and the shore of Long Island Sound to the mouth of 
Connecticut river, and west almost to the Hudson. 
The Mohegans, who dwelt in the north-eastern part of 
Connecticut, and the Narragansets, who lived around 
Narraganset bay, weje the enemies of the Pequods and 
the friends of the English. The Pequods were jealous of 
1636 the English, not merely because they had settled near 
them, but because they were friendly to their enemies. 
These Pequods were charged with murdering, some years 
before, a Virginia trader, named Stone, with his crew, on 
the Connecticut river. Stone had the reputation of being 
intemj5erate and quarrelsome ; the Pequods said that he 
had attacked them and thuy killed him in self-defence. 
Captain Oldham, who was exploring the Connecticut, was 
murdered, with his crew, by the Indians living on Block 
Island. Captain John Endicott was sent to punish the 
murderers. Previous to this the Pequods had sent chiefs 
to Boston to make an alliance, and explain the difficulty 
in relation to the Virginia trader. They promised to de- 
liver up — so the magistrates understood them — the two 
men who had killed him. Endicott was ordered to call, 
on his way home from Block Island, at the Pequod town, 
and demand the promised satisfaction. The Indians, ac- 
cording to their custom, offered a ransom for the two men. 



THE PEQUOD WAR. 85 

but refused to give them up to certain death. Endicott ^^f^ 

had uo respect for their customs ; he must have blood for 

blood. Angry at their refusal, he burned two of their vil- 1636 
lages and destroyed their corn. It was after this that the 
Pequods began to prowl about the settlements, and pick 
off stragglers, until they had, during the winter, kUled 
more than thirty persons. 

The people in the Connecticut valley were in great 
alarm ; they knew not at what moment nor at what point 
the storm would burst. They called upon Massachusetts 
for aid ; only twenty men were sent under Captain Un- 
derbill. The whole community were so much absorbed in 
discussing theological questions with Mrs. Hutchinson that 
every other consideration was overlooked. 

Although the Pequods were more warlike and more 
numei'ous than any other tribe, they were not willing to 
enter upon the war single-handed. They sent a deputa- 
tion to Miantonomoh, the chief of the Narragansets, to 
enlist him against the common enemy. Governor Vane 
wrote to Eoger Williams, urging him, if possible, to pre- 
vent the alliance. Williams hastened to visit Miantono- 
moh ; he found the Pequod chiefs already there, urging 
their ancient enemy to join them and exterminate the 
white intruders — the Narragansets were wavering. At the 
risk of his life, Williams labored for three days to prevent 
these tribes uniting their forces against the colonists. The 
disappointed and angry Pequods threatened him with 
death. He not only prevented the alliance, but obtained 
the promise of the Narragansets to aid the English. Oct. 
Meantime, he sent a messenger to Boston to warn them of 
the impending danger. 

At length the infant settlements of Connecticut in j^,,,. 

convention at Hartford declared war against the Pequods. 1"^ 

. . ] 637 

The little army of not more than eighty men, including 

those sent from Massachusetts, assembled at Hartford : 

the pious Hooker exhorted them, and gave the staff of com- 



21 



26 



86 HISTOET OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, mand to Captain John Mason, who had been a soldier in 

the Netherlands. At the request of the soldiers, part oi 

1C37. the night preceding the day they were to march was spent 
in prayer. Stone, one of their ministers, accompanied 
them as chaplain. They Seated down the river, and sailed 
round the coast to Narraganset bay, intending to go across 
the country, and attack the Pequods in their fort. As the 
latter had a very exalted opinion of their own prowess, they 
supposed the English were making their escape, when they 
saw them sailing past the mouth of the Pequod, now the 
Thames river. The English landed at a harbor in the 
bay, and religiously observed the Sabbath. On the foUow- 
May ing day they repaired to Canonicus, the old Narraganset 
chief, but his nephew Miantonomoh hesitated to join them; 
their numbers were so small, and the Pequods so numer- 
ous. Two hundred warriors, however, consented to accom- 
pany them, but as rather doubtful friends — and about 
seventy Mohegans joined them under their chief Uncas. 

Sassacus, the bold chief of the Pequods, was too confi- 
dent in the strength of his two forts, and in the bravery of 
his warriors to be cautious. His main fort, on the top of a 
high hiU, was defended by posts driven in the ground, and 
deemed by him. impregnable. He was yet to experience 
an attack from the English. In the night Mason, guided 
by an Indian deserter, approached the main fort, and halted 
within hearing of the triumphant shouts of the Pe- 
quods, as they exulted over his supposed flight. Toward 
the break of day the English moved to the attack, while 
their Indian allies took a position to surround the fort. 
May The coming struggle was one of life or death to all that 
was dear to the little army: if they were defeated, aU 
hope would be lost for their families on the Connecticut. 
The barking of a dog awoke the Indian sentinel ; ho 
rushed into the fort with the cry. The English ! the English 1 
In a moment more, the English were through the pali- 
sades, and fi2;hting hand to hand with the half awakened 



MASSACRE OF THE PEQUODS. 87 

warriors. Their numbers were overwhelming. " We must '^^AP 

burn them," shouted Mason, as he appHed a torch to the 

dry reeds which covered a wigwam — the flames spread with 1637. 
great rapidity. All was in confusion — as the despairing 
warriors vainly endeavored to extinguish the flames they 
became targets for the English marksmen. The Narra- 
gansets and Mohegans now joined in the conflict. More 
than six hundred of the Pequods perished, men, women, 
and children in one common ruin, merciless and unrelent- 
ing : only seven escaped. In an hour's time the work was 
done ; just then appeared the warriors, three hundred 
strong, from the other fort. They came forth expecting 
victory. When they perceived the ruin which had come 
upon their friends, they raved and stamped the ground in 
despair. Mason with a chosen band held them in check, 
till the remainder of the army had embarked on the boats, 
which had come round from Narraganset Bay. Then 
they hastened home, lest there should be a sudden attack 
upon the settlements. 

In a few days Captain Stoughton arrived from Massa- June- 
chusetts with one hundred men. The spirit of the Pequods 
was broken; they fled to the west, and were pursued with 
untiring energy. Their villages were burnt — their corn- 
fields destroyed— their women and children slain without 
mercy. They took refuge in a swamp, and in desperation 
once more made a stand : again they were overwhelmed 
with great slaughter. Sassacus, their chief, escaped with a Aug. 
few followers, and made his way to the Mohawks, where 
he was afterward basely murdered by one of his own sub- 
jects. The remainder, old and young, surrendered to the 
victors, who disposed of them : some they gave as captives 
of war to their enemies, the Narragansets and Mohegans; 
and some they sent to the West Indies to be sold as slaves. 
Their territory was declared to be conquered, and their 
name to be blotted out. They were the foremost in that 
mournful procession in which the Indian race, from that 



88 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, day to this, have been moving on toward utter extermina- 
. tion. This terrible example of the white man's power 



1637. sent a thrill of horror through the other tribes ; and for 
more than forty years, they dared not raise an arm in de- 
fence of the graves of their fathers. 

1638. The year following, John Davenport, a celebrated cler- 
gyman of London, arrived at Boston — with him came his 
friend Theophilus Eaton, a rich merchant. They and their 
associates had been exiled. They were cordially welcomed 
in Massachusetts, and urgently pressed to remain in that 
colony. They preferred to go into the wilderness rather 
than dwell in the midst of so much controversy. Rumor 
had told of the fine region found to the west by the pursu- 
ers of the Pequods. Eaton, with a few men, after explor- 
ing the coast of the Sound, spent the following winter at a 
desirable place in that region. As soon as spring opened, 
the company sailed from Boston ; in due time they arrived 
at the place where Eaton had spent the winter ; there, 
under a large tree, on the Sabbath after their arrival, 

April. Davenport preached his first sermon in the wilderness. A 
day of fasting and prayer for direction was observed, and 
then they formed a government, pledging themselves " to 
be governed in all things by the rules which the Scriptures 
held forth to them." Such was the settlement of New 
Haven, and thus was it to be governed. They purchased 
from the Indians the right to the land — Eaton was elected 
governor ; and to the end of his life, for more than twenty 
years, he was annually chosen to that office. 

After the war with the Pequods was ended, the people 
of the several settlements on the Connecticut held a con- 
vention at Hartford, and adopted a constitution and form 

1639. of government. The constitution was framed on liberal 
principles. They agreed to " maintain the purity of the 
gospel," and in civil affairs to be governed by the laws 
made under their constitution. No jurisdiction was admit- 
ted to belong to the King of England. Every one who 



THE SPIRIT OF THE COLONISTS. 89 

took the oath of allegiance to the commonwealth was euti- ^^^f^- 

tied to vote. The governor and the other officers were to 

be chosen annually by ballot. The number of their repre- 1G39. 
sentatives to the General Assembly was to be apportioned 
to the towns, according to the number of inhabitants. For 
one hundred and fifty years this constitution remained in 
force. 

Sir Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason obtained, from 
their associates of the Council of Plymouth, a grant of 
land, lying partly in New Hampshire and partly in Maine. ic22. 
This was named Laconia. A small number of emigrants 
were sent over, who settled at Portsmouth, Dover, and a 
few other places near the mouth of the Piscataqua. Wheel- 
wright, when banished from Massachusetts,' settled with 
his fellow-exiles at Exeter. These settlements progressed 
very slowly. Only a few trading houses were scattered 
along the coast, and for many years they took no more 
permanent form. These settlers were not all Puritans, 
and were but little united among themselves ; yet, they 
apphed and were annexed to the colony of Massachi;setts. 164]. 
The General Court agreed not to insist that the freemen 
and deputies should be church members. 

In all their troubles the colonists of New England had 1039. 
never appealed to the mother country. They felt under 
no obligation to her ; she had driven them forth with a 
harsh hand to take care of themselves, or to perish in the 
wilderness. A spirit of independence pervaded their 
minds. They had the energy and industry to sustain 
themselves, and the courage to act in every emergency. 

Kumors had reached them that unprincipled men 
were planning to take away their charter ; that Arch- 
bishop Laud was meditating to establish over them the 
rule of the Church of England ; that a governor-general 
had been appointed, and was on his way. 

They would not recognize the right of the king even 



90 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, to investigate by what avithority they held their charter, 
L_ lest it might he inferred that they were in any respect de- 

1639. pendent upon his will. For the same reason, when the 
Long Parliament professed to he their friend, they respect- 
fully declined any favors. When they feared an attempt 
to place over them a royal governor, and to change their 
colony into a royal province, they determined to defend 
their liberties, and poor as they were, raised six hundred 
pounds for fortifications. 

1640. Twenty thousand emigrants were in New England, 
when the Puritans of the mother country, galled beyond 
endurance by the outrages committed on their rights and 
persons, commenced that fearful struggle, which, in its 
throes, overturned the throne, and brought the tyrannical 
Charles I. to the scaffold, and established the Common- 
wealth under Cromwell. During this period emigration 
almost entirely ceased. Many hastened home to England 
to engage in the conflict, among whom were the Eev. Hugh 
Peters and Harry Vane. They both perished on the 
scaffold after the Restoration. 

The colonists, though unmolested by the home gov- 
ernment, were still surrounded with dangers. They were 
in the midst of hostile Indians ; the French were threat- 
ening them in the North-East, and the Dutch in the West. 
For mutual safety and interest, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, and New Haven, joined themselves together, 
1(343. under the title of " The United Colonies of New Eng- 
land." Each was to be perfectly free in the management 
of its own affairs ; while those which properly belonged to 
the whole confederacy were to be intrusted to commis- 
sioners — two from each colony. Church-membership was 
the only qualification required of these commissioners. 
The expenses of the government were to be assessed ac- 
cording to the number of inhabitants. The purity of the 
gospel was also to be jireserved. This confederacy, the 
germ of " The United States of America," lasted forty 



THE COLLEGE AND THE FEESS. 91 

years. Rhode Island was not permitted to join it because chap 

she would not acknowledge the jurisdiction of Plymouth. . _ 

The two settlements on Narraganset bay now determined 164" 
to apply for an independent charter. When, for this pur- 
pose, Roger Williams arrived in England, he found the 
country engaged in civil war ; the Puritans and Parlia- 
ment on the one side and Charles I. on the other. Wil- 
liams applied to his friend Harry Vane, and through bis 
influence obtained from the Parliament a charter, under 
the title of " The Providence Plantations." Roger Wil- 
liams afterwards became a Baptist, and founded the first 1(544. 
church of that denomination in the United States. 

A very great number of men of education, ministers 
and laymen, emigrated to New England. Tbere were of 
ministers alone more than eighty, some of whom were equal 
to any of their profession in their native land. There was 
an unusual amount of general intelligence among all classes 
of the community. The Bible to them was as familiar 
as household words. In truth, it was the intelligent alone 
who could appreciate the blessings for which they exiled 
themselves. They wished to secure for their children the 
benefits of education ; and as soon as jiossible an effort 
was made to formd a high school and ultimately a col- 
lege. Funds, with some books, were obtained. The place 
selected was Newtown, but as many of the men had been 
educated at Cambridge University, England, the name was 
changed to Cambridge. The Reverend John Harvard left 
the infant institution half hia fortune and his library. 
Gratitude has embalmed his memory in its name. 1638. 

The next year a printing-jDress, t^ gift of some friends i639. 
in Holland, was established. Its nJP work was to print 
a metrical version of the Psalms, which continued for a long 
time to be used in the worship of the churches in New Eng- 
land. The following preamble explains the next law on the 
subject of education : — " It being a chief project of that old 
deluder Sathan to keep men from the knoMedge of the 



92 HISTORY OF THE AJIEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Scriptures," it was determined that every child, rich and 

poor alike, should have the privilege of learning to read ■ 

1647. its own language. It was enacted that every town or 
district having fifty householdeis should have a common 
school ; and that every town or district, having one hun- 
dred fiimilies, should have a grammar-school, taught by 
teachers competent to prepare youth for the college. All 
the New England colonies, with the exception of Khode 
Island, adopted the system of conimon schools. 

This event deserves more than a mere record. It was 
the first instance in Christendom, in which a civil 
government took measures to confer upon its youth the 
blessings of education. There had been,, indeed, parish 
schools connected with individual churches, and founda- 
tions for universities, but never before was embodied in 
practice a principle so comprehensive in its nature and so 
fruitful in good results, as that of training a nation of in- 
telligent people by educating all its youth. 

There had arisen among the Puritans in England a 
new sect, called in derision Quakers. An unfavorable re- 
port of their doctrines and doings had reached Massa- 
chusetts ; they were represented as denouncing all forms 
of wor.ship and denying all civil authority. At length two 
1656. women of the dreaded sect appeared ; they were arrested 
and detained until their books could be examined, and the 
question was raised whether they themselves were not 
witches. Their books were burnt by the hangman, and 
they sent back to England. Barbarous laws were made 
to deter Quakers from coming to the colony ; but they 
came, and were inhumanly treated and sent back. Then 
a law was passed that if a Quaker, after being banished, 
returned, he should be put to death. This the magis- 
trates fondly hoped would be effectual. We may judge 
their surprise when some of those who had been banished 
returned. They came to call the magistrates to repent- 
ance for their persecuting spirit. What was to be done ? 



ELIOT THE APaSTLE. 93 

Must the law be enforced or repealed ? It had been passed chap. 

by only one majority. The vote was taken again ; one '_ 

majority decided that the law must be obeyed. Four of 
the Quakers suffered the penalty of death. Severity did 
not accomplish the end in view; their brethren flocked to 
Massachusetts as if courting the honor of martyrdom. 
From the first the people had been opposed to the cruel 
law, and at their instance it was repealed. There was 
little apology for these harsh proceedings ; the magistrates 
could only say they acted in self-defence, in excluding 
those who taught doctrines that would interfere with the 
affairs of the colony. As soon as 2:)ersecution ceased, the ]65(; 
Quakers became quiet citizens ; many of them devoted 
themselves to teachinir the Indians under the direction of 
the missionary Eliot. 

The Puritans had long desired to carry the gospel to 1045. 
the Indians. John Eliot, the devout and benevolent 
pastor of the church in Roxbury, in addition to his pas- 
toral labors, gave them regular instruction in Christianity. 
He learned their language that he might preach to them ; 
he translated the Bible, and taught them to read in 
their own tongue its precious truths. This tran.slation, 
which cost him years of labor, is now valued only as a 
literary curiosity ; it is a sealed book, no living man can 
read it. The language has passed away with the people 
who spoke it. 

Their kind instructor induced them to cease from 
roving, and to settle in villages ; he taught the men to 
cultivate the soil, and the women to spin and weave 
cloth, to supply their wants. He mingled with them as a 
brother ; and though he met with much opposition from 
their priests and chiefs, he led many of them in the right 
path. His disciples loved him ; his gentleness and good- 
ness won their hearts. 

As he lived so he died, laboring for the good of others. 
Id his last days, when borne down by years and infirmi- 



94 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CiHAP. tics, he said, " My raemoiy, my utterance fails me, but I 

. thank God ray charity holds out still." Even up to the 

day of his death, which took place when he was eighty- 
six years of age, he continued to teach some poor negroes 
and a little blind boy. To Minister Walton, who came to 
see him, he said, " Brother, you are welcome, but retire to 
your study, and pray that I may be gone." Soon after, 
without a fear or a pang, the spirit of this good " Apostle* 
passed away ; his last words were " Welcome joy ! " 

Eliot was not alone in his labors. The young, the 
winning, the pious Mayhew, an accomplished scholar, 
1045. thought it a privilege to toil for the souls of the poor In- 
dians who lived upon the islands in and around Massa- 
chusetts bay. He took passage for England to excite 
there an interest in his mission. He was never heard of 
more ; the ship in which he sailed went down in unknown 
waters. His father, although at this time seventy years 
of age, was moved to take his place as a teacher of the 
Indians. There, for ' twenty-twa years, he labored with 
the happiest results, till death withdrew him from the 
work. 

Within thirty years "great changes had taken place in 
the colony. The people were prosperous : industry and 
self-denial had wrought wonders. 

Says an enthusiastic chronicler of the times : ' " The 
Lord hath been pleased to turn all the wigwams, huts, and 
hovels the English dwelt in at their iirst coming, into 
orderly, fair, and well-built houses, well furnished, many 
of them, with orchards filled with goodly fruit-trees and 
garden flowers." The people had numerous cattle and 
herds of sheep and swine, and plenty of poultry ; their 
fields produced an abundance of wheat, rye, oats, barley, 
and Indian corn ; and they could furnish fish, lumber, and 



' Johnson's " Woncler-n Diking ProTidcnce of Zion's Saviour in New 
Englaud," — as quoted by Hildreth. 



THE GROWTH OF BOSTON. 95 

many commodities for export. " This poor wilderness hath CH'Vr. 

equalized England in food, and goes beyond it for the 

plenty of wine, and apples, pears, quince-tarts, instead of 
their former pumpkin pies." " Good white and whcaten 
bread is no dainty; the jioorest person in the country hath 
a house and land of his own, and bread of his own grow- 
ing — if not some cattle." 

These good things were not obtained without labor. 
Of the thirty-two trades carried on. the most successful 
were those of coopers, tanners, ehoematers, and ship- 
builders. "Many fair ships and lesser vessels, barques, 
and ketches were built." Thus the chronicler anticipates 1655. 
the growth of Boston, which, " of a poor country village, 
is become like unto a small city; its buildings beautiful 
and large — some fairly set out with brick, tile, stone, and 
slate, orderly placed, with comely streets, whose continual 
enlargements presageth some sumptuous city." They 
had their soldiers, too, and a " very gallant horse-troop," 
each one of which had by him " powder, bullets, and 
match." Their enemies were graciously warned that these 
soldiers " were all experienced in the deliverances of the 
Lord from the mouth of the lion and the paw of the bear,'' 



CHAPTER XII. 

VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND. 

Slavery. — Massacre by the Indians. — Lord Baltimore.— The Settlement ot 
Maryland. — <.'layborne's Rebellion. — The Colony prosperous. — Tolera- 
tion. — Berkeley governor of Virginia; Trade crippled; Litolerance. — 
Indian War. — State of Society. — Aristocr.itie, Assembly. — Complaints of 
Berkeley. — War with the Susquehannahs. — Nathaniel Bacon. — Disturb- 
ances. — Obnoxious Assembly dissolved. — Evils corrected. — Bacon goes 
against the Indians. — Insincerity of Berkeley. — Jamestown captured 
and burned. — Death of Bacon. — Tyranny of Berkeley. — Aristocratic 
Assembly ; its illiberal Acts. — Culpepper governor. — A Series of extor- 
tions. — Deplorable state of the Colony. — Difficulties in Maryland. 

CHAP. In August of this year slavery was introduced into the 

'__ colonies. A Dutch ship entered James river, having on 

1620. '^oJii'l twenty negroes for sale as slaves. Although the 
Dutch continued occasionally to bring Africans to the 
Virginia market, the number of slaves increased but slowly 
for a third of a century. The trade was discouraged, but 
not absolutely forbidden. 

The Indians were scattered throughout the country, in 
little villages, along the streams and in the most fertile 
districts. The planters, who wanted these places for their 
tobacco, took possession of them. Powhatan, the friend 
1618. of the English, was dead ; his brother and successor, Ope- 
chancanough, though professing friendship, was their 
enemy : his proud spirit burned within him at the wrongs 
of his people. Not daring to meet the English in open 
conflict, he planned secretly a terrible revenge ; even their 
entire extermination. At this time the number of colo- 



THE MASSACRE. 



97 



iiists was about four thousand ; that of the Indians within ^^f^- 

sixty or a hundred miles of Jamestown, about five thou- . 

sand. At noon on a certain day, the Indians were to faU 1622. 
upon every settlement, and murder all the whites. Mean- 
wliile, Opeehancanough was warmer than ever in his pro- 
fessions; " sooner would the skies fall," said he, " than that 
my friendship for the Eno-lish should cease." On the 
morning of the intended rnassacre, the Indians were in the 
houses and at the tables of the planters, and manifested 
more than their usual good will. On that morning, a con- 
verted Indian, named Chauco, brought the news of the plot 
to Jamestown. He had learned of it only the night before. 
Messengers were sent in every direction to warn the people, 
but it was too late to reach the distant settlements. 
Throughout the extent of one hundred and forty miles, the 
merciless savages attacked the settlers at the same moment; 
and on the twenty-second of March, there perished within 
one hour, three hundred and forty-seven persons, men, Mar. 
women, and children. Some of the settlements, though 
taken by surprise, repulsed their assailants, yet the eifect 
was terrible. Of eighty plantations, all but eight were 
laid waste, and the people hastened for safety to James- 
town. Desolation reigned over the whole colony; death 
had entered almost every family, and now famine and sick- 
ness prevailed. Within three months the four thousand 
colonists were reduced to twenty-five hundred ; the de- 
crease continued, and at the end of two years not more 
than two thousand remained of the nine thousand who had 
emigrated to Virginia. Their misfortunes excited much 
feeling in England. Assistance was sent ; the city of 
London did much to relieve their pressing wants, and pri- 
vate individuals were not backward in sending aid. Even , 
King James's sympathies were enlisted ; he had never aided 
the colonists, but he i;ow gave them some old muskets 
that had been thrown aside as useless. 

The, planters did not f>3.ir the Indians in open conflict; 
7 



93 HISTOET OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

™AP. but ii was necessary to guard against their secret attacks. 

In their turn, they formed plans to exterminate the 

1622. savages, or drive them far hack into the wilderness. Expe- 
ditions for this purpose were sent against them from time 
to time, during the space of ten years. In time industry 
began to revive, and signs of prosperity once more wei-e 
seen. 

The London Company wa§ now bankrupt ; endless 
discussions arose among the numerous stockholders. They 
became divided into two political parties, — one favored 
the king's prerogative ; the other, the liberty of the colo- 
nists. Tliese questions were freely discussed at the meet- 
ings of the company, greatly to the annoyance of James. 
When he found it impossible to prevent the stockholders 
from expressing their opinions, he arbitrarily took away 
the charter of the company. To console the colonists, he 
announced that he had taken them under his own special 
protection. He began to frame laws for their government — 
laws no doubt in accordance with his peculiar notions of 
1625. kingcraft ; but his labors and life were suddenly ended. 

Charles I., his son and successor, appeared to favor the 
colony : it conformed to the church of England, and he did 
not suspect its politics. More than this, he wished to 
ingratiate himself with the colonists, for he desired the 
monopoly of their tobacco trade. He even went so far as 
to recognize the House of Burgesses as a legislative body, 
and requested them to pass a law by which he alone could 
purchase the tobacco of the colony. The House, in a dig- 
nified and respectful manner, refused to comply with the 
i'j29. royal request, as it would be injurious to their trade. 
After the death of the liberal and high-minded Yeanlley, 
the council elected Francis West governor. Charles, 
piqued at this independence, as well as the refusal to 
grant him the monopoly, appointed Sir John Harvey. 
Harvey had been a member of the colonial council, where 
he was the willing instrument of a faction that had almost 



SIK GEORGE CALVERT. 99 

ruined the prospects of the colony. The enemy of the chap. 

rights of the people, he was exceedingly unpopular ; he 

now took special care of his own interests nnd those of his ]G33. 
friends, hy appointing thera alone to office. 

The histories of Virginia and Maryland are intimately 
connected. As has heen mentioned, Captain Smith was 
the first to explore the Chesapeahe ; the trade with the 
Indians along its shores had now become profitable. 
Though the Potomac river was the northern boundary of 
Virginia, the colonists had extended their trade and influ- 
ence with the Indians on both sides, up to the head of the 
bay. William Clayborne, a bold and restless spirit, a sur- 
veyor of land by profession, was employed by the Governor 
of Virginia to explore the sources of the Chesapeake. A 
company was formed in England for the j)urpose of trading 
with the Indians, who lived on both sides of the bay. . 
Clayborne, the agent of the company, obtained a license to 
trade, and established two stations, one on Kent Island, 
opposite Annapolis, and one at the mouth of the Susque- 
hannah. 

During the turmoil of religious parties and persecu- 
tions in England, Sir George Calvert, afterward Lord 
Baltimore, left the Protestant church, resigned his office 
of Secretary of State, and professed himself a Koman 
Catholic. This did not aff'ect his standing with James on 
his son Charles. Calvert manifested a strong interest in 
the cause of colonization. He wished to found a colony to 
which Catholics might flee to avoid persecution. He first 
obtained permission to found a settlement on the cold and 
barren shores of Newfoundland ; that enterprise was soon 1622 
abandoned. He tiirned to Virginia, a clime more genial ; 
there he was met by the oaths of supremacy and alle- 
giance, to which, as a good Catholic, Lord Baltimore could 
not subscribe ; Virginia could never be a peaceful asylum 
for those of his faith. The region north of it attracted his 



100 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 

CHAP, attention, and lie applied to King Charles for a portion of 

that territory. 

1632 Charles gave him a grant of land, most of which is now 

included in the State of Maryland ; it was named after 
Henrietta Maria, the wife of the king. As a proprietary 
Lord Baltimore deserves all jiraise for his liberality. The 
colonists were to have a voice in making their own laws ; 
they were not to be taxed without their own consent. 
He was bold to repudiate intolerance, and politic to 
adopt a form of government which alone could insure 
success. He designed his colony to be an as3dum*for the 
Catholic, but the Protestant was invited to share it. Just 
as the charter was about to be issued he died. To his son 
Cecilj under the same title, the charter was continued ; to 
him belongs the honor of carrying into effect the inten- 
^ tions of his father. 

Feb., He deputed his brother, Leonard, to take charge of 

the emigrants, who, to the number of two hundred, after 
a protracted voyage, arrived safely in the Chesapeake. A 
tribe of Indians residing on the St. Mary's, a branch of the 
Potomac, were about to remove, on account of their ene- 
mies the Susquehannahs ; they sold to the infant colony 
their cultivated land and their village. The Indian 
women taught the strangers' wives to make bread of 
maize ; and soon the emigrants had corn-fields and 
gardens, and obtained abundance of game in the forest. 
A few days after their arrival, Governor Harvey, of Vir- 
ginia, paid them a friendly visit ; it was the desire of 
Charles that they should be welcomed by the sister colony. 
Friendly relations were established with the neighboring 
Indians ; the colonists for a time obtained their necessary 
provisions from Virginia, bvit as they were industrious, the 
fruitful earth soon repaid their labor. At the commence- 
ment of the second year, the freemen of the colony held 
their first legislative Assembly. . 

Claybome was the evil genius of Maryland. Hi.'» license 



1632. 



EFFOKTS TO CONVERT THE INDIANS 101 

to trade with the Indians was made void by Lord Balti- ^^.^^ 

more's charter. He attempted to excite a rebellion, but . . 

was overpowered and compelled to flee to Virginia. The 1635 
Governor of Maryland demanded him as a fugitive from 
justice : to evade the demand Harvey sent him to Eng- 
land to be Tried. This offended the people of Virginia, 
■who sympathized with Clayborne ; to avenge him, they 
impeached Harvey himself, " and thrust him out of his 
government." The Assembly appointed commissioners 
to prosecute the charges against him in England. The 
commissioners met with no favor from the king ; and soon, April, 
under a new appointment, the unpopular Harvey came 
back as governor. 

Meanwhile peace and plenty continued to be the lot 
of Maryland. Every year the rights of the people were 
better understood ; they acknowledged their allegiance to 
England, and respected the rights of Lord Baltimore. 
Their lands produced an abundance of tobacco, and com- 
merce began to prosper. Efforts were now made to con- 
vert some of the neighboring Indians to Christianity. 
The priests established four stations among them, and not 
without effect. One chief, Tayac, with his wife, was bap- 
ui?,ed,he taking the name of Charles and she that of Mary. 
Soon after one hundred and thirty other converts received 
baptism, some of whom sent their children to receive a 
Christian education under the care of the priests. But, 
alas ! these efforts were as vain as the other attempts of 
the times to Christianize the poor natives. The same evil 
causes were here at work — wars and the influence of bad 
men. It is said these grateful tribes ever after remained 
friendly to those who endeavored to instruct them. 

The persevering Clayborne returned, to mar their 1645. 
peace by another and more successful insurrection. The 
Governor of Maryland was now, in his turn, compelled to 
flee to Virginia. After two years of misrule, peace was 
again restored, and all the offenders were pardoned. 



102 HISTOEY OF THE AMEKICAiT PEOPLE. 

CHAP. As an interesting fact, it may be mentioned, that ii; 
this year Maryland passed a law of perfect toleration to 

16i9. all Chri&tian sects ; two years previous Rhode Island had 
granted toleration to all o})iuions, Lijidcl as well as 
CliriHtian. 

During the rule of Cromwell the government of Mary- 
land was very unsettled. The Assembly, finally, repu- 
diated both Cromwell and Baltimore, and proclaimed the 
authority of the people as supreme. Scarcely was this ac- 
complished when the restoration of Charles II. took place. 

1060, Lord Baltimore made known to the king that his profes 
sions of republicanism were made only to obtain the favor 
of Cromwell, and that really he was a good royalist 
Charles immediately restored him his proprietary rights. 
Baltimore was not vindictive ; he proclaimed a general 
pardon, and for almost thirty years the colony enjoyed 
repose. 

Sir William Berkeley, as successor to Harvey, was ap- 

1642. pointed Governor of Virginia. The trade of tlie colony 
■was crippled by severe restrictions ; as England claimed 
its trade for herself alone. Thus began a series of acts 
and infringements on commerce by the home government, 
wliich annoyed the people of the colonies, and interfered 
with their industry and commercial prosperity for more 
than one hundred and thirty years, when these grievances 

1776. were swept away by the Revolution. The colony was now 
permitted for a time to take care of itself, Charles I. being 
engaged in a contest with his subjects at home. The Vir- 
ginians were stanch friends of the king, and the party in 
the mother country contending against him met with no 
favor from them. The Puritans who were living in Vir- 
ginia, being identified with republicanism, were looked 
upon with suspicion ; those of their number who would 
not conform to the ceremonies m the Church of Englana 
were banished. A majority of these passed over into 
Maryland. Thus it was, the Puritan would not permit 



THE LOYALTY OF VIRGINIA. 103 

the Episcopalian to come to New England, and the Epis- <^hap. 
copalian banished the Puritan from Virginia. 

No peace was granted to the Indians. After a space lG4i. 
of twenty-two years, they once more made an effort to free 
themselves from their enemies. The frontier settlements 
were suddenly attacked, and about three hundred persons 
killed. When resisted, the savages fled to the wQderness. 
They were pursued with great vigor, and after a contest 
of two years their power was completely broken. Opechan- 
canough, their aged chief, was taken captive, and soon 
after died in prison ; his proud spirit deeply wounded that 
he should be gazed at by his enemies. The neit year a 
treaty was made, by which they relinquished forever the 
fertile valleys of their fathers, and with sorrowful hearts 
retired far into the wilderness. 

After the execution of Charles I., great numbers of the 
royalists, "good cavaHer families," fled to Virginia, where 
they were welcomed as exiled patriots. She was the last 
of the colonies to acknowledge the authority of the Common- 
wealth. But when commissioners were sent, who granted 
the people all the civil rights and pri\'ileges they asked, 
they submitted. 

After the death of Cromwell, and before it was known 
who was to rule in England, the House of Burgesses re- 
solved, " that the supreme power will be resident in the 
Assembly." Then Berkeley was elected governor. In 
accepting office, he acknowledged the authority of the 
people's representatives, saying, " I am but the servant of 
the Assembly." We shall see how sincere was that decla- 
ration. 

When Charles II. was in exile, he was invited to come 
and be "king of Virginia;" from this incident, it has 
been called " The Old Dominion." This loyalty Charles 
after his restoration repaid, by basely taking away their 
privileges, and distributing their lands among his favorites. 

The society of Virginia was peculiar. The first settle- 



104 niSTORT OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

"^^AP. ments were made under the protection of the nobility; this 
favored the growth of an aristocratic class of landholders. 



1600. There were two other classes — the negro, who was a slave 
for life, and the indented white man, sent from the mother 
country to serve a certain number of years. These white 
servants were sometimes criminals, but oftener political 
offenders. The latter, when their term of seiTitude ex- 
pired, mingled with the jaeople on an equality. 

The Assembly held their sessions once in two years ; 
their members were chosen by the people, and only for one 
session. The first Assembly held after the Restoration, 
was composed of landholders. Berkeley now declared him- 
self governor, not because he was elected by the people, 
but because Charles when in exile had appointed him. 

1602. The Assembly went still further, and deprived the peo- 

ple of the privilege of choosing their own legislators, by 
assuming to themselves the right to be perpetual. This 
Assembly remained thus in violation of law for fourteen 

1676. years. During this usurpation, all that the people had 
gained of civil rights for more than a third of a century, 
this aristocratic House of Burgesses swept away. The only 
right allowed them was that of petitioning their rulers for 
redress of grievances — but these petitions were disregarded. 
The Church of England was declared to be the religion of 
the State, and all were bound by law under penalties of 
fines and banishment, not only to attend its services, but 
to pay a tax to supi:)ort it. Governor Berkeley complained 
of its ministers : " as of all other commodities, so of this — 
the worst are sent us, and we have few that we can bi^ast 
of, since the 25ei'secutions in Cromwell's tyranny drove 
divers worthy men hither." The cause of education was 
neglected, and almost prohibited. The poor were pecu- 
liarly unfortunate — " out of towns," says a chronicler of 
the times, " every man instructs his children as best he 
can :" — no aid was afforded them by those in authority. 
Says the aristocratic Berkeley : " I thank God there are 



NATHANIEL BACON. 105 

no free schools nor printing ; and I hope we will not have •^"'^^• 

them these hundred j-ears ! " Such was the language of 

a man who was Governor of Virginia for nearly forty years. 1639. 
The printing-press was established in Massachusetts ninety 1729. 
years before there was one in Virginia. 

The people of Maryland became involved in war with 
the Indians. A company of Virginians, under John Wash- 1675. 
ington, great-grandfather of George Washington, crossed 
over the Potomac to aid them. Six chiefs of the Susque- 
hannahs came to treat for peace, but the Virginians treach- 
erously murdered the whole company. For this evil deed 
the innocent were made to suffer. The Susquehannahs 
immediately passed over into Virginia to revenge their 
death, by killing ten persons for each chief. According to 
their belief, until this sacrifice was made, the souls of their 
chiefs could not be at rest in the spirit land. The people 
cried to the governor for protection, which he was slow to 
give ; they attributed his tardiness to his interest in the 
fur-trade. They now asked permission to defend them- 
selves ; to invade the enemies' country, and drive them 
fi'om their hiding-places ; this was also refused. During 
this delay, the Indians pursued their murderous work all 
along the frontiers. 

There was in the colony a young planter, not more than 
thirty years of age, a native of England ; a lawyer by pro- 
fession ; eloquent and winning in his manners ; bold and 
determined in sjjirit ; a true patriot ; disliked by the gov- 
ernor, because he was a republican ; but dear to the peo- 
ple for the same reason : such was Nathaniel Bacon. To 
him, in their extremity, they turned. Those who had 
volunteered to go against the Indians, asked of the gover- 
nor a commission for Bacon to command them. Berkeley 
obstinately refused to grant it. He would not countenance 
such presumption on the part of the " common people." 
The murders continued ; the volunteers waited no longer 
on the tardy government, but set out under the command 



106 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, of Bacon to repel the savages. The moment they were 

gone, Berkeley proclaimed Bacon a traitor, and his soldiers 

167C. rebels, and gave orders for them to disperse. 
April. 

The populous counties on the Bay began to show signs 
of insurrection. Their quarrel was not with the Indians, 
but with the acts and continued existence of the House of 
Burgesses. Bacon, meanwhile, had returned successful 
from his expedition. The haughty old governor was forced 
to yield ; the obnoxious Assembly was dissolved, and writs 
issued for the election of members for another, to which 
Bacon was returned triumphantly from Henrico county. 
This Assembly corrected the evils of the long one. The 
unjust taxes on the poor were removed ; the privilege of 
voting for their legislators was restored to the people, and 
many abuses in relation to the expenditure of the public 
money rectified. The House elected Bacon commander ot 
the army. These measures were very distasteliil to Berke- 
ley and his advisers- — he would not give them his sanction. 
Finally, however, he yielded to necessity ; and even went 
so far as to transmit to England, his own and the council's 
commendations of Bacon's loyalty and j)atrioti8m. 

The Indians still continued their attacks upon the 
settlements, and Bacon with a small force went to punish 
them : again the insincei-e Berkeley proclaimed him a 
traitor. Such treachery excited his indignation and that 
of the army. No confidence could be placed in the gov- 
ernor's word. " It vexes me to the heart," said the gal- 
lant patriot, " that while I am hunting the wolves which 
destroy our lambs, that I should myself be pursued like a 
savage — the whole country is witness to our peaceable 
behavior ; but tbose in authority, how have they obtained 
their estates ? Have they not devoured flie common trea- 
sury ? What sclnools of learning have they promoted ? " 
* Such were the questions asked, and such were the senti- 
ments that stined the hearts of the people. They must 



JAMESTOWN BURNED. 107 

Lavo their rights restored : wives urged their husbands to ™-^'' 
contend for their hberties. 

Berkeley with a few royalist followers and advisers, went 1670. 
to the eastern shore of the bay. There by promises of plun- 
der, he collected a rabble of sailors belonging to some Eng- 
lish vessels, and a company of vagabond Indians. When the 
rumor of the governor's intentions spread throughout the 
land, the people with one accord met in convention at the 
Middle Plantation, now Williamsburg, where they deliber- 
ated all day, even until midnight. They decided it was 
their duty to defend themselves from the tyranny of the 
governor. They adjourned, however, and went to their 
homes, determined to be guided in their conduct by the 
course he should pursue. They were not long in suspense, 
for Berkeley crossed over with five ships to Jamestown, to 
put down what he was pleased to call a rebellion. In a Sett, 
very short time the little army so successful against the 
Indians, was gathered once more under the same leader. 
The conflict was short ; Berkeley's cowardly rabble broke 
and fled ; deserting Jamestown, they went on board their 
ships and dropped down the river. The victors entered 
the deserted town. A council was held as to what was to 
be done. Should they leave it as a place of defence for 
their enemies ? It was deemed necessary to burn it. 
Drummond and Lawrence, men prominent in the popular 
movement, applied the torch to their own dwellings; the 
example was followed by others, and, in a few hours, the 
first town ibunded by Englishmen on this continent was in 
ruins. A crumbling church-tower is all that now remains 
to mark the site of old Jamestown. 

The good results of this struggle were doomed to be 
lost. Bacon suddenly fell ill of a violent fever, which 
terminated his life in a few days. He was called a traitor Oct. 
and a rebel by Berkeley and his royalist party, as was 
Washington by the same party one hundred years after- 
ward. 



108 



niSTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



'^^AP. The people were now without a leader — without any 
one to plead their cause. Berkeley played the tyrant, 

i676. ravaged the country and confiscated the property of the 
patriots. He caused to perish on the scaffold more than 
twenty of the best men of Virginia. One or two incidents 
may serve to exhibit his spirit. When Drummond (who 
is represented as a " sober, Scotch gentleman, of good 
repute") was brought into his presence, "You are very 
welcome," said he, bowing at the same time, with mock 
civility ; " I am more glad to see you than any man in 
Virginia ; you shall be hanged in half an hour ! " He 
derided, in vulgar terms, a young wife who came to plead 
for her husband, to take the blame of his offence upon 
herself, and to offer her own life for his. 

If any one dared speak disrespectfully of Berkeley 
or his rule, he was publicly whipped. The end came at 
last ; Berkeley left the country, and the people celebrated 
his departure with bonfires and rejoicings. When he 
arrived in England he found that public opinion severely 
condemned his conduct ; and, what was more wounding 
to his pride, even Charles, to serve whom he had stained 
his soul with innocent blood, exclaimed, " That old fool 
has taken away more lives in that naked land than I for 
the death of my father ! " The names and characters of 
Bacon and his adherents were vilified, and f jr a century 
these slanders were not disproved ; the truth was not per- 
mitted to be published. The facts, as now known, prove 
that the men who thus opposed the tyranny of Berkeley 
were not rebels and traitors, but worthy to be num- 
bered among the patriots of the land. 

1d77. The first Assembly held after this unsuccessful strug- 

gle was devoted to the interests of the aristocracy. All 
the liberal laws passed by the prccetling one were re- 
pealed ; henceforth only freeholders could vote for mem- 
.bers of the House of Burgesses. The poor man was as 



a 



CULPEPPER AND EFFINGHAM. 109 

heavily taxed as the rich, but unless lie was a landholder chap. 

XII. 

he had no vote. 

The profligate Charles gave Virginia to two of his 1678. 
favorites — Arlington and Culpepper ; the latter soon after 
purchased the claim of the former. The king appointed C ul- 
pepper governor for life. He came authorized to heal differ- 
ences between the jjeople and the government, but he used 1080. 
the power for his own interest alone ; he valued Virginia 
only in proportion to the money his rapacity could extort ; 
even the soldiers, sent to maintain his authority, he de- 
frauded of their wages. When he had secured to himself 
the highest possible revenue, he sailed for England. The 
condition of the Virginians was wretched in the extreme ; 
the rewards of their industry went to their rapacious rulers, 
and they, goaded to desjjeration, were on the point of 
rebellion. 

Rumors of these discontents reached England, and the 
truant governor reluctantly left his jilcasures to visit his 
domain. Having the authority of the king, Culpepper 1082. 
caused several men of influence to be hanged as traitors. 
The people who owned farms in the territory, given him 
by royal grant, he now compelled to lose their estates, or 
compromise by paying money. Charles had now another 
fiivorlte to provide for ; Culpepper was removed, and 1084. 
Eflingham appointed. This chjinge was even for the 
worse ; Effingham was more needy and more avaricious. 

On the accession of James II. what is known in his- 
tory as Monmouth's Rebellion occurred. After its sup- ic>85. 
pression, multitudes of those implicated in it were sent to 
Virginia and Maryland to be 'sold as servants for a term 
of ten years. Many of these were men of education and 
of good families. The House of Burgesses, to their honor 
be it said, declared these poor men free, though the cruel 
James had forbidden the exercise of such lenity. 

So little were the claims of humanity respected at this 
time in the West of England, that it was a common occur- 



110 niSTOET OF THE AMERICAN PLOPLE. 

^xa^' ^^°*^^ ^^ kidnap persons of the poorer sort, and send them 

to the colonies to he sold as servants for a term of years 

1085. These were principally hrouglit to Virginia and Mary- 
land, as there the planters required many laborers. The 
trade was profitable, more so than the African slave 
trade. 
1G88. After the accession of William and Mary an effort was 

made to establish a college in Virginia, " to educate a do- 
mestic succession of Church of England ministers," as well 
as to teach the children of the Indians. The celebrated 
Robert Boyle made a large donation, and the king gave, 
in addition to three other grants, outstanding quit-rents, 
valued at about £2,000. Such was the foundation of the 
1^191. college of William and Mary. 

The Rev. James Blair, said to be the first commissary 
sent to the colonies by the Bishop of London, " to sujjply 
the oflice and jurisdiction of the bishop in the out-places 
of the diocese," was its president for fifty years. 

Though William was thus moderately liberal, he was 
by no means the representative of the true feeling of his 
ministry ; they even looked upon this pittance as uncalled 
for. Blair, the pious and energetic Scotchman, once urged 
upon Seymour, the attorney-general, the importance of 
establishing schools to educate ministers of the gosi)el. 
" Consider, sir," said he, " that the people of Virginia 
have souls to save." He was answered by a profane im- 
precation upon their souls, and told to "make tobacco." 
This pithy rebuff indicated the spirit and general policy 
of the home government ; it valued the colonies only as a 
source of wealth. 

For mnuy years voluntary emigration to Virginia almost 
ceased. There were no inducements, no encouragement 
to industry, all commerce was restricted. The planters 
were at the mercy of the English trader ; he alone was 
permitted to buy their tobacco and to sell them merchan- 
dise. The whole province was given over to the tender 



TROUBLES IN MARYLAND. Ill 

mercies of royal favorites and extortioners, while the ^^''^^ 

printing-press, that dread of tyrants, was still forbidden. 

How dearly did loyal Virginia pay for tlie honor of being 1685. 
named the " Old Dominion ! " 

The struggles of the people of Virginia imder Bacon 
and others, had an effect on tlie people of Maryland. At 
tire death of Lord Baltimore, his son and heir assumed the 1C75. 
government, and ruled with justice till another revolution 
in liUgland brought a change. The deputy-governor hesi- 1688. 
tated to acknowledge William and Mary. This was seized 
upon by some restless spirits to excite discontent in the 
minds of the people. Among other absurd stories, it was said 
that the Catholics, who were few in number, were about to in- 
vite the Indians to aid them in massacring the Protestants. 
At this time the Jesuits had excited the Indians of New 
England and Canada against the New England • colonies. 
This gave a shadow of probability to the charge. Under 
the lead of some persons, who professed to be very zealous _— 
Protestants, the deputy-governor was seized, and a con- 
vention called, which deposed Lord Baltimore, and pro- 
claimed the people the true sovereign. Two years after, 1691. 
King William, taking them at their word, unjustly de- 
prived Lord Baltimore , of his property, and made the, colony 
a royal province. The people now suffered the penalty 
for ill treating .their benevolent ^proprietary. The king 
placed over them a royal governor ; changed their laws for 
the worse ; established the Church of England, and taxed ,^ 
them to maintain it ; did not promote education, but pro- 
hibited printing ; discouraged their domestic manufac- 
tures ; and finally disfranchised the Catholics, who had 
laid the tbuudation of the colony sixty years before. The 
rights of Lord Baltimore were afterward restored to his 
infant child, and the original form of government was 1716. 
established. No colony experienced so many vicissitudes 
as Maryland. 



CHAPTEK XIII. 

COLONIZATION OF NEW YORK. 

Hudson's Discoveries. — Indian Traffic. — Fort on the Isle of llanli.ittan. — 
■Walloons the first Settlers. — Peter Minuits. — The Patroons. — Van 
Twiller Governor ; his Misrule. — Succeeded by Kieft. — Difficulties with 
the Indians. — They seek Protection ; their IVIa.<isacre. — Peace con- 
cluded. — Stuyvesant Governor. — The Swedish Settlement on the Dela- 
ware. — Pavonia. — Threatening Rumors. — New Netherlaiid surrendered 
to England. — New Jersey sold by the Duke of York. — The Influence of 
the Dutch. 

CHAP. When there were high hopes of discovering a north-west 
passage to India, Henry Hudson was sent in search of it 

1G09. by a company of London merchants. He was unsuccess- 
ful ; yet his enthusiasm was not diminished by his failure. 
He requested to be again sent on the same errand, but the 
merchants were unwilling to incur further expense. He then 
applied to the Dutch East India Company ^.the directors of 
which, at Amsterdam, furnished him with a ship, the Half- 
Moon, with liberty to exercise his own judgment in the pro- 
secution of the enterprise. He first sailed to the north-east, 
away beyond the Capes of Norway, as far as the ice would 
permit. He saw that an effort in that direction would bo 
fruitless. He turned to the west, crossed the Atlantic, 
and coasted along the continent till he found liimself op- 
posite the Capes of Virginia ; then turning to the north 
he entered " a great bay with rivers," since known as the 
Delaware ; still further north he passed through a narrow 
channel, and found Idmself in a beauiiful bay. Here he 



A CHANGE WROUGHT. 113 

remained some days. The natives, " clothed in mantles CHAr. 

of feathers and robes of fur/' visited his ship. Their , 

astonishment was great ; they thought it was the canoe 1609. 
of the Great Spirit, and the white faces, so unlike them- 
selves, were his servants. Hudson explored the bay, and 
noticed a large stream flowing from the north ; this, thought 
he, leads to the Eastern Seas. That stream, called by 
some of the native tribes the Cahohatatea, or River of 
Mountains, and by others the Shatemuc, he explored for 
one hundred and fifty miles ; it did not lead to the 
Eastern Seas, yet that river has immortalized the name 
of Henry Hudson. 

What a change has come over the " River of Moun- 
tains" since he threaded his way up its stream two hun- 
dred and fifty years ago ! It has become the highway to 
the great inland seas of a continent, upon whose bosoms 
float the fruits of the industry of millions ; and the island 
at its mouth the heart of a nation's commerce, whose every ^^ 
throb is felt throughout that nation's length and breadth 
From the highest church-steeple,' on this Isle of Man- 
hattan, the eye takes in a horizon containing a population 187G 
three-fifths as great as that of the thirteen colonies at the 
time of the Declaration of Independence. There arc other "*" 
changes which the philanthropist loves to contemplate. 
Here are seen the humanizing influences of Christianity, 
of civilization, of intelligence, and of industry, embodied 
in institutions of learning, of science, and of benevo- 
lence, that pour forth their charities and blessings, not 
alone for this land but for others. 

The coincidence is striking, that, nearly at the same 
time, the representatives of three nations were penetrating 
the wilderness and approaching each other. Champlain, 
on behalf of France, was exploring the northern part of 
New York ; John Smith, one of the pioneers of English 

' Trinity. 



11-1 HISTOBT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

*';HAP. colonization, was pushing his discoveries up to the head 

waters of the Chesapeake, while the Half-Moon was slowly 

l(ilo, sounding her way up the Hudson. 

Hudson arrived safely in England, but he was not per- 
mitted by the government to continue in the service of the 
Dutch, lest they should derive advantage in trade from his 
discoveries. However, he found means to transmit to his 
employers at Amsterdam, an account of his voyage. Once 
more he sailed under the patronage of some English mer- 
chants. He passed through the straits into the bay known 
by his name; groped among a multitude of islands till late 
in the season, and then determined to winter there, and in 
the spring continue his search for the wished-for passage. 
When spring came his provisiiins were nearly exhausted ; 
it was impossible to prosecute his design. With tears of 
disappointment he gave orders to turn the prow of his ves- 
sel homeward. A day or two afterwaid his crew mutinied. 
They seized him, put him, with his son and seven seamen, 
four of whom were ill, on board the shallop, and inhumanly 
left them to perish. •" The gloomy waste, of waters which 
bears his name, is his tomb and his monument." 

Hudson, in his communication to his employers, 
described the extensive region he had discovered as well 
watered by rivers, and as lying around bays and inlets ; as 
covered with forests abounding in the truest timber for 
ship-building ; and as " a land as beautiful as ev'er man 
trod upon." The numerous tribes of Indians who met 
him in friendship, and the multitudes of beaver and otter, 
gave indication also of a profitable trade. 

The next year a ship was sent to trade ; the traffic was 
profitable, and was still further prosecuted. In a few 
years there were forts or trading houses on the river, as far 
up as Fort Orange, since Albany. A. rude fort at the 
1614. lower end of Manhattan island was the germ of the present 
city of New York. The Dutch during this time were 



EMIGRATION ENCOURAGED. 115 

busy exploring the waters from the Delaware to Cape '^^^j*"- 

Cod. They were as yet but a company of traders ; no . 

emigrants had left Holland with the intention of making 1614. 
a permanent settlement. 

A company was formed, under the title of the Dutch 1621. 
West India Company ; an association for the purpose of 
trade only. They took possession of the territory as tem- 
porary occupants ; if they grew rich they were indifferent 
as to other matters ; they had no promise of protection 
from Holland, and as a matter of jiolicy they were peace- 
ful. The States-General granted them the monopoly of 
trade from Cape May to Nova Scotia, and named the 
entire territory New Netherland. The claims of the Eng- 
lish, French, and Dutch thus overlapped each other, and 
led to " territorial disputes, national rivalries, religious 
antipathies, and all the petty hatreds and jealousies of -<» 
trade." 

About thirty families, Walloons or French Protestants, 
who had fled to Holland to avoid persecution, were the 
first to emigrate with the intention of remaining. Some 
of these settled in the vicinity of what is now the Navy 
Yard in Brooklyn, others went up the river to Fort 1535 
range. ^ 

The central position of the island of Manhattan ob- 
tained for it the honor of being chosen as the residence of 
the agent for the company. Peter Minuits was appointed 
such, under the title of governor, and the few cottages at 
the south end of the island were dignified with the name of 
New Amsterdam. The island itself belonged exclusively 
to the company, and was i^urchased from the Indians for 
about twenty-four dollars. Effort was now made to found 
a State. Every person who should emigrate had the privi- 
lege of owning as much land as he could properly culti- 
vate, provided it was not on lands especially claimed by 
the company. To encourage emigration, it was ordered 
that any member of the company who in four years should 



116 HISTOET OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. ■ 

CHAP, induce fifty persons to settle anywhere in New Nether- 
land, except on the island of Manhattan, should be recog- 



1625. nised as " Pat»on," or '•' Lord of the Manor." Under 
this arrangement "Patroons" could purchase a tract of 
land sixteen miles long by eight in width. They secured 
to themselves, by purchase from the Indians, the most 
valuable lands and places for trade. The less rich were 
by necessity compelled to become tenants of the Patroons. 
The people, thus deprived of that independence which is 
essential to the progress of any community, took but h) tie 
interest in cujtivating the soil, or in improving the 
country. 

The company, for the sake of gain, determined, even at 
the expense of the prosperity of the colonists, to make 
New Amsterdam the centre of the trade of New Nether- 
land. Under the penalty of banishment the people were 
forbidden to manufacture the most common fabrics for 
clothing. No provision was made for the education of the 
young, or the preaching of the gospel ; although it was 
enjoined upon the Patroons to provide " a minister and a 
schoolmaster," or at least a " comforter of the sick," whose 
duty it should be to read to the people texts of Scripture 
and the creeds. The company also agreed, if the specu- 
lation should prove profitable, to furnish the Patroons with 
African slaves. 

As Hudson had discovered Delaware bay and river, the 
Dutch claimed the territory. Samuel Godyn purchased 
from the Indians all their lands from Cape Henlopen to 

1629. the mouth of the Delaware river. Two years after this 
thirty colonists arrived, fully prepared to found a settle- 
• ment. When De Vries, who was to be Patroon and com- 
mander, came the next year, he found not a vestige of 
the settlement ; all had perished by the hands of the 
savages. 

After the resignation of Minuits, Walter Van Twiller. 
through the " influence of kinsmen and friends," was ap- 



WILLIAM KIEFT GOVERNOK. 117 

pointed governor. He proved himself unfitted for the *^^j|j''- 

station. As a clerk, he was acquainted with the mere 

routine of business, but ignorant of human nature ; as con- 1633. 
ceited as he was deficient in judgment and prudence, 
he failed to secure the respect of those he governed. 
In his zeal for the interests of his employers, he neglected 
the rights of the people, and was so inconsistent in the 
management of pubHc afiairs that Dominie Bogardus sent 
him a letter of severe reproof, threatening to give him 
" such a shake from the pulpit on the following Sunday 1638. 
as would make him slmdder." 

The inefficient Van Twiller was succeeded by William 
Kieft. Though he had not the same defects as Van 
Twiller, his appointment was a most unfortunate event for 
the colony. A bankrupt in Holland, liis portrait was 
affixed to the gallows ; an evidence of tlie estimation in 
which h*s character was lield. Avaricious and unscrupu- 
lous, so arbitrary in his measures that during his rule the 
colony was in a continual turmoil, he quarrelled with the 
Swedes on the Delaware, had difficulties with the Eng- 
lish in New England, made the Indians his enemies, and 
had scarcely a friend in his own colony. 

The Dutch were orf friendly terms with the Indians 
during the rule of Van Twiller. It was forbidden by law 
to sell them fire-arms ; but the traders up the river, indif- 
ferent to the interests of the settlers, sold them guns to 
such an extent, that at one time more than four hundred 
of the Mohawks, or Iroquois, were armed with muskets. 
By this means these terrible marauders and despots of the 
wilderness were rendered more haughty and dangerous. 
They paid enormous prices for guns, that they might be 
able to meet their enemies the Canadian Indians, who 
were supphed with fire-arms by the French. Though 
the traders did not sell guns to the tribes li\ang near New 
Amsterdam and on the river, yet they sold them rum. 

Kieft pretended that the company had ordered him to 



118 HISTORY OF THB AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, levy an annual tribute upon the river Indians— the Mo- 
hegans and other clans of the Algonquin race. The}' re- 



1638. fused to pay any tribute, saying he " was a shabby fellow 
to come and live on their lands without being invited, and 
then want to take away their corn for nothing." Such 
injustice, with the partiality shown to their enemies, the 
Mohawks, gradually alienated their feelings of friendship 
for the Dutch. 

An act of Kieft awoke the slumbering anger of the 
savages. The Karitans, a tribe living on the river which 
bears their name, were accused of stealing hogs, which 
had been taken by some Dutch traders. Kieft did not 
inquire into the truth of the charge, but sent soldiers to 
punisli them, who destroyed their corn and killed some of 
their number. De Vries, who, in the mean time, had 
planted a settlement on Stateu Island, was himself a 
friend of the Indians. The Raritans attacked this settle- 

1641. ment and killed four men. The people now urged the 
governor to concili:tte the savages, but without effect. 
Twenty years before a chieftain had been killed by a Dutch 
hunter in the presence of his hejjhew, then a little boy ; 
that boy, now a man, according to their custom, avenged 
the death of his uncle by murdering an innocent Dutch- 
man. Kieft demanded that the young man should be 
given up to liim, to be punished as a murderer. The 
tribe would not comply witli the demand, but offered to 
pay the price of blood. The violent governor refused any 
such compromise. 

[C42 With liis permission a meeting of the heads of fami- 

lies was called. They chose twelve of their number to 
investigate the affairs of the colony. They passed very 
soon from the Indian difficulties to other abuses ; even to 
the despotic actions of the governor himself As the 
" twelve men " refused to be controlled by Kieft, but per- 
BBvgred in expressing their opinions of his conduct, he 



MASSACRE OF THE INDIANS. 119 

dissolved the Assembly. Thus ended the first representa- ^^^ 
tive Assembly iu New Netherland. , 

Nearly all the difficulties with the ludians may be lfi4-2 
traced to some injustice practised upon them by the 
whites. An instance of this kind now occurred which led 
to direful results. A Dutchman sold a young Indian, the 
son of a chief, brandy, and when he was intoxicated, 
cheated and drove him away. The Indian, raging with 
drink, and maddened by the treatment he had received, 
went to his home, obtained his bow and arrows, returned 
and shot the Dutchman dead. The chiefs of the murder- 
er's tribe hastened to the governor to explain the matter, 
and to pay the price of blood ; they wished for peace ; but 
the governor was inexorable. He demanded the murderer ; 
but he had fled to a neighboring tribe. " It is your own 
fault ! " exclaimed the indignant chiefs ; " why do you 
sell brandy to our young men ? it makes them crazy ; — •' 
your own people get drunk, and fight with knives." 

Just at this time came a company of eighty Mohawks, 
all armed with muskets, to demand tribute of the enfee- 
bled Kiver Tribes. The latter fled to the Dutch for pro- 
tection. Now is the time, urged the people, to obtain 
forever the friendship) of the Indians living around us, by 
rescuing them from the rapacious Mohawks. Now is the 
time, thought the stubborn and cruel Kieft, to extermi- 
nate those who have fled to me for safety. 

" If you murder these poor creatures who have put 
themselves under your protection, you will involve the 
whole colony in ruin, and their blood, and the blood of 
your own people, will be required at your hands ! " urged 
the kind-hearted De Vries. The admonition was un- 
heeded. 

The unsuspecting victims of this scheme of treachery 
and barbarous cruelty were \yith the tribe of Hacken- 
sacks, just beyond Hobokeu. About the hour of mid- Feb., 
night tlie soldiers from the fort, and some freebooters from ^^*^ 



l^t^ HISTORY OF THE AMBKICAN PEOPLE. 

I'HAP. the ships in the harbor, passed over the river. Soon were 

. heard the shrieks of the dying Indians ; — the carnage 

1643. continued, the poor victims ran to the river, to pass over 
to their supposed friends in New Amsterdam. But they 
were driven into the water ; the motlier, who rushed to 
save her drowning child, was pushed in, that both might 
jDerish in the freezing flood. These were not tlie only 
victims. Another company of Indians, trusting to the 
Dutch for protection, were encamped on the island, but a 
short distance from the fort. They were nearly all mur- 
dered in the same manner. In the morning the returning 
soldiers received the congratulations of Kieft. When the 
people learned of the massacre they were filled with hor- 
ror at its atrocity, and expressed their detestation of its 
author, and their fears that all the Indians in their neigh- 
borhood would become their deadly enemies. The guilty 
Kieft cowered before the storm ; it would have been well 
if the only effects of his acts had been the reproaches of 
the people. 

When it became known that it was not their enemies 
the Mohawks, but their pretended friends the Dutch, who 
had wantonly killed their countrymen, the rage of the 
Eiver Tribes knew no bounds. They rose as one man to 
take revenge. Every nook and corner, every swamp and 
thicket, became an ambush for the enraged savages. The 
settlements up tlie river were destroyed. On Lnng Island, 
on Staten Island, the retribution fell ; all around Man- 
hattan the smoke of burning dwellings arose to heaven. 
The people at a distance from the fort were either mur- 
dered or taken captive, especially the women and chil- 
dren. All who could deserted their homes, and sought 
safety in the fort at Manhattan ; many of whom after- 
ward left for Holland. 

A pleasing incident is related of Indian gratitude, 
De Vries had, on that fearful night, rescued an Indian 
and his wife from death. When his settlement on Staten 



A TEMPORARY TRUCE. 121 

Island was attacked, this Indian hastened to his country- *^^^P. 

men who were besieging tl.e people in the block-house, 

and told them how he and his wife had been rescued. The 1648. 
besiegers immediately told the people they would molest 
them no more ; and they kept their word. 

A temporary truce was made at Kockaway on Long Sept 
Island. The chiefs of a number of tribes agreed to meet 
the messengers of the Dutch, and treat of peace. De 
Vries, whom the Intlians knew to be their friend, went 
with two others to the interview. When the conference 
was opened one of the chiefs arose, having in his hand a 
number of little sticks; taking one, he commenced : " When 
you. first came to our shores you wanted food ; we gave 
you our beans and our corn, and now j'ou murder our 
people." He took another stick : " The men whom your 
first ships left to trade, we guarded and fed ; we gave 
them our daughters for wives ; some of those whom you 
murdered were of your own blood." Many sticks still re- 
mained, but the envoys did not wish to hear a further re- 
cital of wrongs. They proposed that they should both 
forget the past, and now make peace forever. Peace was 
made. It was not satisfactory to the young warriors ; they 
thought " the bloody men," as they now called the 
Dutch, had not paid the full price of the lives they had 
taken ; and war broke forth again. Now the leader of 
the Dutch was Captain John Underhill, who had had ex- 
perience in the Pequod war in New England. For two 
j'ears the Indians were hunted from swami^ to swamp, 
through winter and summer ; yet they were not sub- 
dued. They lay in nmbush round the settlements, and 
picked off the husbandman from his labor, and carried 
into captivity his wife and children. There was no security 
from the midnight attack ; scarcely any corn was planted ; 
famine and utter ruin stared the colony in the face. 

Sixteen hundred of the Indians had been killed, and the 
number of white people was so much reduced, that, besides 



122 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

f^^j^P- traders, there were not more than one hundred jersons on 
the Isle of Manhattan. What a ruin had been wrought 

1643. by the wicked jjerverseness of one man ! 

At length both parties became weary of war. The 
chieftains of the tribes around New Amsterdam, and, as 
mediators, a deputation from their ancient enemies the 
Mohawks, met the deputies of the Dutch beneath the 
open sky, on the place now known as the Battery, in New 
York city, and there concluded a peace. 

1645. Thanksgivings burst forth from the people at the 

prospect of returning safetj^ There was no consolation 
for Kieft ; he was justly charged by them with being the 
cause of all their misfortunes. The comj)any censored 
him, and disclaimed his barbarous conduct. He was 
without a friend in the colony. After two years, with his 
ill-gotten gains, he sailed for his native land. The vessel, 
was wrecked on the coast of Wales, and, with many others, 

1616. he was lost. 

In the midst of all these difficulties there were those 
who labored to instruct the poor heathen Indians of New 
Netherland. Several years before the missionary Eliot 
commenced his labors with the tribes near Boston, Mega- 
polensis, the Dutch clergyman at Fort Orange, endeavored 
to teach the Mohawks the truths of the gospel. He strove 
to learn their language, that he might " speak and preach 
to them fluently," but without much success ; their lan- 
guage was, as he expressed it, so " heavy." The grave 
warriors would listen respectfully when told to renounce 
certain sins, but they would immediately ask why white 
men committed the same. Efforts were made afterward 
to instruct in Christianity the tribes around Manhattan, 
but the good work was neutralized by other and evil in- 
fluences. 

The West India Company appointed Peter Stuyvesant 
to succeed Kieft as governor. He had been accustomed 
to military rule, and was exceedingly arbitrary in his gov- 



THE SWEDES ON THE DELAWARE. 123 

ernment ; honest in his endeavors to fulfil his trust to the ^3fy 

company, he also overlooked the rights of the people. He 

thought their duty was to pursue their business, and pay 1046. 
their taxes, and not trouble their brains about his man- 
ner of government. The colony was well-nigh ruined 
when Stuyvesant came into powej ; for nearly five years 
the dark cloud of war had been hanging over it. The In- 
dians had been dealt with harshly and treacherously ; 
policy as well as mercy demanded that they should be 
treated leniently. The company desired peace with the 
various tribes, for the success of trade depended upon 
their good-wiU. 

Although the Dutcli claimed the territory from Cape 
Cod to the Capes of Virginia, they preferred to negotiate 
with New England, and desired that the wars between 
their mother countries in the Old World should not dis- 
turb the harmony of the New. 

It must be confessed that the Connecticut people 
annoyed Stuyvesant exceedingly. The absurd stories told 
by the wily Mohegan chief, Uncas, of the Dutch con- 
spiring with the Narragansets to cut off the English, found 
a too ready credence ; so ready as to leave the impression 
that such stories were rather welcome than otherwise, pro- 
vided they furnished an excuse for encroaching upon 
the territory of the Dutch. When accused of this con- 
spiracy, said a sachem of the Narragansets, " I am poor, 
but no present can make me an enemy of the English ! " 

We have now to speak of others settling on territory 
claimed by the Dutch. Gustavus Adolphus, the King of 
Sweden, was induced to engage in sending a colony to the 
New World. He wished to found aij asylum to which 
Protestants of Europe could flee. Peter Minuits, who has 
already been mentioned, as commercial agent at New 
Amsterdam, offered his .services to lead the company of 
emigrants. The same year that Kieft came as governor 
to New Amsterdam, Minuits landed on the shores of the 



12-i HISTORY OF THE AJIEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Delaware with a company of emigrants, about fifty in num- 

ber. They purchased from the Indians the territory on 

1638. the west side of the bay and river from Cape Henlopen 
to the falls at Trenton. This was very nearly the soil of 
the present State of Delaware. Nearly all this territory 
had been purchased some years before by the Dutch, who 
looked upon the Swedes as intruders. The latter built a fort 
and a church on the site of Wilmington, and named the 
country New Sweden. The Dutch protested, but the 
Swedes went quietly to work, and increased from year to 
year by accessions from their native land. For years the 
disputes between the two colonies continued ; at length 
Stuyvesant, obeying the orders of the company, determined 
to majie the Swedes submit to Dutch rule. The former, 
1656, Jq surrendering, were to lose none of their rights as citi- 
zens. Thus, after an existence of seventeen years, the 
Swedish colony passed under the sway of the Dutch. 
Many of them became dissatisfied with the arbitrary acts 
of their rulers, and from time to time emigrated to Vir- 
ginia and Maryland. 

What is now New Jersey was also included in the ter- 
ritory claimed by the Dutch. They built a fort, a short 
distance below Camden, which they named Nassau. 
1623. Michael Pauw bought of the Indians Staten Island, and 
all the land extending from Hoboken to the river Raritan. 
He named the territory Pavonia. Meanwhile the Swedes 
passed over to the east side of Delaware bay, and estab- 
lished trading-houses from Cape May to Burlington. 

Manhattan in the meanwhile was gaining numbers by 
emigration. The stern Stuyvesant was sometimes intol- 
erant, but the company wished the people to enjoy the 
rights of conscience. They wished New Amsterdam to be 
as liberal to the exile for religion's sake as was its name- 
sake in the Old World. Every nation in Europe had 
here its representatives. It was remarked " that the in- 
habitants were of different sects and nations, and that 



DISCONTENTS OF THE PEOPLE. 125 

tliey spoke many different languages." The public docu- chap. 

ments were issued sometimes in Dutch, sometimes inEng- 

lish, and sometimes in French. Two centuries ago it was 
prophesied that here would be centred the commerce of 1658. 
the world. Time is realizing the prediction. To pro- 
mote emigration the mechanic had his passage given him. 
The poor persecuted Waldenses came from their native 
valleys and mountains at the expense of the old city of 
Amsterdam. Africa, too, had her representatives. Her 
sons and daughters were brought as slaves at the charge 
of the West India Company; and the city of Amsterdam, 
in this case also, shared the expense and the profit. 

The spirit of democracy began to pervade the minds 
of the Dutch ; the credit of this has been given to the 
New Englanders, who were continually enlightening them 
on the subject of the freedom of Englishmen. This 
annoyed Stuyvesant beyond endurance. He often ex- 
pressed his contempt for the "wavering multitude ;" he 
despised the people, and scoffed at the idea that they 
could govern themselves : it was their duty to work, and 
not di.scuss the mysteries of government. They had no 
voice in the choice of their rulers, and were even forbidden 
to hold meetings to talk of their affairs. Stuyvesant 
finally consented to let them hold a convention of two 
delegates from each settlement ; but as soon as these dele- 
gates began to discuss his conduct as governor, he dis- 
solved the convention, bluntly telling them he derived his 
authority from the company, and not from " a few ignorant 
subjects." When a citizen, in a case in which he thought 
himself aggrieved, threatened to appeal to the States- 
General of Holland, " If you do," said the angry gov- 
ernor, " I will make you a foot shorter than you are." 
When the day of trial came, Stuyvesant found that by 
such despotic measures he had lost the good-will of the 
people of every class and nation. 

Rumors were now rife that the English were about to 



126 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

'xnf' ^"^'l^^^ -^^^^' Netherland. The people for the most part 

were indiiferent ; they had now no civil rights, and to 

1C64-. them the change might be for the better ; it was not 
jirobable that it wonld be for the worse. The English 
portion longed for the rights of Englishmen. Though 
there had been war between England and Holland, the 
people of Virginia and New England, except perhaps 
those of Connecticut, were well-disposed toward the 
Dutch as neighbors. 

Stuyvesant was soon relieved of his troubles with the 
people of Manhattan. Charles II., without regard to the 
rights of Holland, with whom he was at peace, or to the 
rights of the people of Connecticut under their charter, 
gave to his brother, the Duke of York, the entire country 
from the Connecticut to the Delaware. The first intima- 
tion Stuyvesant had of this intended robbery, was the pres- 
ence of a fleet, under Richard Nicholls, sent to put in 
execution the orders of the English king. The fleet had 
brought to Boston the commissioners for New England, and 
there received recruits, and sailed for New Amsterdam. 
All was in confusion ; Stuyvesant wished to make resist- 
ance, but the people were indiflerent. What was to be 
done ? The fleet was in the bay, and the recruits from 
New England had just pitched their tents in Brooklyn : 
Long Island was already in the hands of the enemy. 
Nicholls sent Stuyvesant a letter requiring him to surren- 
der his post, which the valiant governor refused to do with- 
out a struggle. A meeting of the principal inhabitants 
was called ; they very properly asked for the letter wliich 
the governor had received from the English admiral. They 
wished to know the terms he offered to induce them to 
acknowledge English authority. Rather than send the 
letter to be read to the "wavering multitude," the angry 
Stuyvesant tore it to pieces. Instead, therefore, of prepar- 
ing to defend themselves against the enemy, the people 
protested against the arbitrary conduct of the governor. 



THE INFLUENCE OF THE DUTCH. 127 

At lengtli the capitulation was made, on the condition that ^^j^f • 

the people should be jirotected in their rights and property, 

religion and institutions. Sept. 

In a few da3^s Fort Orange surrendered ; and in a few 
weeks the Dutch and the Swedes on the shores of the Dela- 
ware passed under the rule of England. Nicholls was 
appointed governor. New Amsterdam was to be hereafter 
known as New York, and Fort Orange as Albany. 

A treaty was also made with the Mohawks : they had 
been the friends of the Dutch, and they now became the 
friends of the English, and remained so in all their contests, 
both with the French, and the Colonies during the revolu- 
tion. They served as a bulwark against incursions from 
Canada. Their hatred of the French was intense. They 
said, the Canada Indians never invaded their territory 
unaccompanied by a '" skulking " Frenchman. 

England and Holland were soon at war again ; and sud- 
denly a Dutch squadron anchored in the bay, and demand- 
ed the surrender of the colony. Thus the territory became 
New Netherland once more. 

In a little more than a year peace was made, and the 
province was restored to England. Thus after half a cen- 
tury, the rale of the Dutch passed away, but not their 
influence — it still remains to bless. The struggles of their 
fathers in Holland in the cause of civil and religious free- 
dom; are embalmed in the history of the progress of the 
human mind. In their principles tolerant, in religion 
Protestant, a nation of merchants and manufacturers, 
laborious and frugal, they acquired a fame as wide as the 
world for the noble virtue of honesty. Defenders of the 
right, they were brave, bold, and plain spoken; they were 
peaceful; they were justly celebrated for their moral and 
domestic virtues : nowhere was the wife, the mother, the 
sister more honored and cherished. Such were the ances- 
try and such the traditions of the people just come under 
British rule. A little more than a century elapsed, and 



128 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN^ PEOPLE. 

^\ta' ^^^^^^ descendants, with scarcely an exception, took their 
phices with the lovers of their countiy in the struggle for 



16(34. independence. 

The change of rulers was not beneticial to the people ; 
the promises made to them were not kept ; their taxes 
were increased ; the titles to their lands were even called 
in question, that the rapacious governors might reap a har- 
vest of fees for giving new ones. It was openly avowed by 
the unprincipled Lovelace, the successor of Nicholls, that 
the true way to govern was by severity ; to impose taxes so 

1667. heavy that the people should have " liberty for no thought 
but how to discharge them." When the people respect- 
fully petitioned in relation to their grievances, their petition 
was burned by the hangman before the town-hall in New 
York, by order of the same Lovelace. The same species 
of tyranny was exercised over the colonists on the Dela- 
ware. 

The Duke of York sold to Lord Berkeley, brother of Sir 
William Berkeley, governor of Virginia, and Sir George 
Carteret, the soil of New Jersey. They made liberal offers 
to emigrants to settle in the territory, promising to collect 
no rents for five years. Many families were induced to 
come from Long Island. Their principal settlement was 

1670. named, in honor of Carteret's wife, Elizabethtown. All 
went smoothly tiU pay-day came, and then those colonists 
who had lived under Dutch rule refused to pay. They 
contended that they had bought their lands from the In- 
dians, the original owners of the soil, and that Carteret had 
no claim to rent because the king had given him a grant 
of land which did not belong to him. Others said they 
derived no benefit from the proprietary, and why should 
they pay him quit-rents ? 

The Duke of York had but little regard to the rights 

1674. of Carteret or Berkeley; he appointed Andros, " the tyrant 
of New England," governor of the colony. Berkeley, dis- 



SCOTCH PRESBYTERIANS IN EAST JERSEY. 129 

gusted by such treatment, sold what was called West ^^J^T- 

Jersey to Edward Byllinge, an English Quaker, who in a 

short time transferred his claim to William Penn and two 1674. 
others, who afterward made an arrangement with Carteret 
to divide the territory. Penn and his associates taking 
West Jersey, and Carteret retaining East Jersey, the line 
of division being drawn from the ocean, at Little Egg 
Harbor, to the north-western corner of the province. 

Episcopacy having been re-established in Scotland, a 
certain portion of the Presbyterians, the Cameronians or 
Covenanters, refused to acknowledge the authority of that 
church, and in consequence they became the victims of a 
severe persecution. To escape this they were induced to 
emigrate in great numbers to East Jersey, which thus 1688. 
became the cradle of Presbyterianism in America. The 
original settlers of New Jersey were the Dutch, English, 
Quakers, Puritans, from New England, and Presbyterians, 
from Scotland, which may account for that sturdy opposi- 
tion to royal or ecclestiastical tyranny so characteristic of 
its inhabitants. 



CHAPTEK XIV. 

COLONIZATION OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Tile Quakers. — William Peiin. — His Education.^Obtaiiisa Charter. — Prepa- 
rations to plant a Colony. — He lands at NewiMstle.. — Philadelphia. — 
Rights ofthe Indians. — Settlement ot'(!erniantow n. — Fletcher, the Royal 
Governor. — New Charter granted the People. — Pro.sperity. of the Col- 
ony. — Trials of Penn : his Death. — Benjamin Franklin. 

'^'^:\V- We have in the course of tliis hi.story met with the sect 

. known as Quakers, — % sect, perhaps, more than any other 

1C50. drawn from the humbler classes of the English people. 
We have found them at one time few in number, despised 
and persecuted; treated as the enemies of social order and 
morals. They were persecuted by all the sects in turn. 
The "Puritans of New England endeavored to drive them 
from their shores; the Churchmen of Virginia refused them 
a resting place ; and the politic and trading Dutch, though 
desirous for colonists, treated them harshly. 

The Quakers loved and cherished tlie truths of the 
Bible with as much zeal as the most devoted Puritans. As 
non-resistants, they believed that the only evil a Christian 
should resist, was the evil of his own heart : as followers of 
the Prince of Peace, they were opposed to war. How much 
blood and sorrow would be spared the nations, if in this 
respect they were governed by the principles of Quakerism ! 
We have now to speak of this despised sect as the found- 
ers of a State, where their principles were to be applied to 
the government of men. 



WILLIAM PENN. 131 

George Fox, their founder, had visited the American '^^.^ 

colonies ; the condition of his followers touched his heart. 

Was there no asylum for them in the New World ? Who 1673. 
should furnish them the means to form for themselves a ' " 
settlement ? 

Among the few who joined them from the higher classes 
of English society, was one destined to exert a great influ- 
ence on the sect, and to he admired and reverenced as a 
benefactor of his race by the good of every age. When a igoi, 
mere youth, his heart was touched by the conversation of a 
simple-minded Quaker, who spoke of the peace and comfort 
derived from the witnessing of God's Spirit with his own : 
" the inner light," or voice of conscience. This youth was 
William Penn, the son of Sir William Penn, who was dis- 
tinguished as a successful naval commander in the times 
of Cromwell and Charles II. The position of his father 
afforded him great advantages. He studied at Oxford 
University, was then sent to the Continent to improve his 
mind by travel and intercourse with men, aifd to eradicate 
his tendency toward Quakerism. After the absence of two 
years he returned, improved it is true, but in religion still 
a member of that despised sect everywhere spoken against : 
a sect, which its enemies affirmed, would destroy every 
government. The ambitious and worldly-minded Admiral 
was angry and disappointed. He insisted that his son 
should renounce Quakerism. The son reflected — he loved 
and reverenced his father ; he desired to obey and please 
him, but could he violate his conscience ? No; he calmly 
resigned all earthly preferment, and became an exile from 
his fiither's house. A mother's love secretly relieved his 
pressing wants. 

Before long we find him in prison for his religion. 
When the Bishop of London threatened him with im- 
prisonment for hfe if he did not recant, he calmly replied, 
" Then my prison shall be my grave ! " When a clergy- 
man, the learned Stillingfleet, was sent to convince him 



132 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, by argumpnts, he referred to his prison-walls, and re- 

'_ marked, " The Tower is to me the worst argument in the 

16(53. world ; those who use force for religion never can be in the 
right ! " " Religion," said he, on another occasion, " is my 
crime and my innocence ; it makes me a prisoner to 
malice, but ray own freeman." At the expiration of a 
year he was released, through the intercession of his 
father. 

Promotion in the navy, royal favor, and every worldly 
inducement was now urged to tempt him to desert his 
principles ; but in vain. Within a year he was arraigned 
again for having spoken at a Quaker meeting. As he 
pleaded his own cause, he told the court " that no power 
on earth had the right to debar him from worshipping 
God." The jury brought in a verdict of not guilty. The 
court, determined to persecute, ordered them back to their 
room ; saying, " We will have a verdict, or you shall 
starve for it." Penn admonished them as Englishmen to 
remember their rights. To the great annoyance of his 
enemies, the jury, though they " received no refreshments 
for two days and two niglits," again brought in a verdict 
of not guilty. The court fined the jury it could not 
intimidate. Though thus acquitted, the recorder, under 
the plea of contempt of court, fined Penn, and again re- 
manded him to prison. As he was leaving the room, he 
mildly remarked to the angry magistrate : " Thy religion 
persecutes and mine forgives." His father soon afterward 
paid the fine, and he was liberated. Ere long that father, 
when dying, became reconciled to his son, and called him 
to his bedside. Worldly prosperity and honor did not 
seem so important to the admiral in his dying hour as 
they had done in other days. " Son William," said he, 
" if you and your friends keep to your plain way oi 
preaching and living, you will make an end to the 
priests 1 " 

Weary of persecutions, Penn determined to seek in 



PENNSYLVANIA PURCHASED. 133 

the New World an asylum for himself and his suffering ^^A^ 

friends. There was, perhaps, no man in the kingdom _ 

better fitted to take the lead in colonizing a State : fa- 1680. 
miliar, from books as well as from observation, with the 
governments of Europe, and by personal intercourse with 
some of the most enlightened statesmen of the age ; the 
friend and companion of men, as eminent in science and 
pliilosophy as they were in purity of morals. 

His father had bequeathed him a claim of sixteen 
thousand pounds against the government. He offered to 
receive lands in payment. Charles II., always in want of 
money, readily granted him territory west of the Delaware 1681. 
river, corresponding very nearly with the present limits of ^'^' 
the State of Pennsylvania, — a name given it by the king. 
The Duke of York claimed the region now known as the i()82. 
State of Delaware ; Penn wishing to have free access to 
the bay obtained it from him. 

As proprietary he now drew up a proclamation for those 
who were about to emigrate, as well as for the settlers April 
already on the Delaware. He proposed that they should 
make their own laws, and pledged himself to interfere with 
nothing that should be for their benefit ; saying, " I 
propose to leave myself and successors no power of doing 
mischief ; that the will of no one man may hinder the good 
of a whole countiy." 

With instructions to govern in accordance with law, 
he sent his nephew, William Markham, as agent. He had 
expended so much to aid his suffering brethren, that his 
estate was now nearly exhausted. When about to sail for 
his colony he wrote to his wife : " Live low and sparingly 
till my debts are paid ; I desire not riches, but to owe 
nothing ; be liberal to the poor, and kind to all." At this 
time of embarrassment a very large sum was offered him 
by a company of traders for the exclusive right to trade 
between the rivers Susquehannah and Delaware. He re- 



134 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CH/\P. fused to sell such right, saying each one in his colony 
should have an equal privilege to acquire property, 

1682. Penn, accompanied by one hundred emigrants, landed 
0% ' at New Castle. The Swedes, Dutch, and English alike 

welcomed him. He passed up the river to where the 
capital of his province was yet to rise ; there, under a 
spreading elm, he met a large number of sachems of the 
mughboring tribes, and with them entered into a treaty. 
No record of this treaty has been preserved, yet it re- 
mained for tifty years in force ; neither party violating its 
provisions. The sons of the forest received the " Quaker 
King" as a friend, and they never had cause to regret 
their confidence. He promised to treat them justly ; 
a promise observed not only by himself but by the Quakei 
settlers. During this year twenty-three ships laden with 
emigrants arrived safely in the colony ; and they continued 
to flock thither from year to year. 

Lands, lying between the Schuylkill and the Delaware, 
were purchased from the Swedes : a place desirable for a 
city, from its situation, healthy air, and springs of fresh 
water. It was to be a " greene country town, gardens 
round each house, that it might never be burned, and 
always be wholesome." The streets were marked out in 
the primitive forest by blazing the trees — the walnut, the 
spruce, the chestnut. A city for all mankind, it was sig- 

1683. nificantly named Philadelphia. 

The new city grew very rapidly ; in three years it con- 
tained more than six hundred houses, while the colony 
had a population of nearly ten thousand. Well raiglit 
the benevolent proprietary look forward to the future in 
cheerful hope ; he had based his government on truth and 
justice. The rights of the Red Men were respected ; no 
one could wrong them without incurring the same penalty 
as that for wronging a fellow planter. If difficulties oc- 
curred between them and the settlers, the juries to try ' 
such cases were to be composed of six Indians and sis 



FIRST LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 136 

white men. In tlie earlier days of the colony the natives chap. 

manifested their friendship by bringing as presents the 

products of the chase, wild fowl and venison. 168S. 

Presently the first Assembly in Pennsylvania was con- 
vened. Penn gave. to the people a "charter of liberties," 
a representative government, and toleration in religious 
matters ; to prevent lawsuits, three " peace-makers" 
were appointed for each county. Laws were made to 
restrain vice and to promote virtue. Labor upon the Sab- 16S4. 
bath was forbidden. The confidence which the Indians had 
in his integrity gave security to their friendship, and Penn- 
sylvania was free from frontier wars, and more prosperous 
and happy than any other colony. Had the Bed Men been 
treated as justly by the other colonists as by the Quakers, 
thousands of lives would have been spared and the general 
prosperity of the whole country promoted. • 

The interests of the young were not forgotten ; efforts i602. 
were made for their education, and a public high-school 
chartered by Penn, was established at Philadelphia, where 
already a printing-press, the third in the colonies, was 
doing its work. 

After Penn returned to England, the people of Dela- 
ware, or the three lower counties, who sympathized but 
little with the Quakers, began to be restless. They feigned I60i 
grievances, as a means to become independent. He yielded 
to their request, and appointed for them a separate deputy- 
governor. 

Being the personal friend of the Duke of York, Penn 
urged him when he became king, to relieve the oppressed; 
and in consequence more than twelve hundred Quakers 
were liberated, who had been imprisoned many years for 
conscience' sake. His benevolence was not hmited to 
those of his own persuasion, but extended to all, both 
Catholic and Protestant. 

When the great revolution drove the arbitrary James 
into exile, and placed William of Orange on the throne, 1688. 



136 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAT^f PEOPLE. 

^xiv''' -P^"^ ^'"^^ accused Ly his enemies of favoring the interests 

of the exiled monarch, with whom he corresponded. This 

1C92. correspondence afforded no evidence of the truth of these 
calumnies, but William lent them too ready an ear. He 
was at a loss to conceive how Penn could he the friend of 
James in exile, without wishing him to return to England 
as a sovereign. These false charges, together with rumors 
of dissensions in the colony, furnished the royal government 
a pretext for depriving Penn of his proprietary rights. 

The Quakers became divided in their sentiments; a few 
went to the extreme of non-resistance, saying, that it was 
inconsistent for a Quaker to engage in public affairs, either 
as a magistrate or as a legislator. The prime leader in 
this was George Keith. After disturbing the province be- 
yond even Quaker endurance, he was indicted by the grand 
• jury, as a disturber of the peace and violator of the laws. 
He was tried, and fined for using improper language ; but 
lest it might be thought a jjunishment for the free expres- 
sion of opinion, the fine was remitted. The cry of perse- 
cution was raised ; but time proved the falsehood of the 
charge. 

The first German emigrants to Pennsylvania were 
Quakers in their religious views — converts of Penn and 
Barclay, who some years before had travelled on the conti- 
nent as missionaries. These settled Germantown and the 
vicinity. Twenty years later, the ravages of war drove 
1690. many Germans from their homes on the banks of the Rhine. 
These emigrated in great numbers first to England, and 
then to Pennsylvania. In religious views they were Ger- 
man Reformed and Lutherans. They chose fertile dis- 
tricts, settled together, and soon became celebrated as the 
best farmers in America. Their numbers gradually increas- 
ed by accessions of emigrants from home. They did not 
assimilate with the English colonists : preserved inviolate 
their customs, their religion, and their language, which 
alone they permitted to be taught their children. The 



OPPOSITION TO ROYAL AUTHORITY. 137 

isolation of a population so large, had an important infiu- ciJAI' 

cnce upon the people of Pennsylvania, on their system of . . 

education by common schools, on the struggle for independ- 1692 
ence, and since politically. 

An attempt was now made to convert Pennsj'lvania 
and Delaware into one royal province, over which Benja- 
min Fletcher was api3ointed governor. Some of the magis- 
trates refused to recognize his authority, and some resigned 
their offices. When the Assembly met, the opposition 
became more determined. The members of this body 
deemed the laws made under the charter received from 
Penn as valid; neither would they legislate under any other 
authority. The charter given by King Charles, said they, 
is as valid as one given by King William ; and they re- 
fused to throw a suspicion over their existing laws by 
re-enacting them. They never noticed the governor ; with 
Quaker coolness passed and repassed his door, and in every 
respect ignored his presence. 

Meanwhile, Penn had been persecuted and annoyed ; 
he was arraigned three times on frivolous charges, which 
were as often not sustained. He prepared once more to 1090. 
visit his colony. Crowds of emigrants were ready to go 
with him, when he was arrested again. Forced to go into 
retirement, he determined to wait till lime should bring 
him justice. This delay ruined the remainder of his for- 
tune ; death entered his family, and robbed him of his 
wife and eldest son. Treated harshly by the world, and in 
some instances by those whom he thought his friends, he 
mildly persevered; never changed his views of right and 
justice ; conscious of the purityof his motives, he serenely 
waited for the time when his character should be vindi- 
cated from the aspersions cast upon it. Ere long that time 
came, the charges laid against him were proved to be false, 
and he was restored to his proprietary rights. IU9^_ 

The want of means delayed his visit to his colony, but 
he sent Markham as his deputy. He called an Assembly; 



188 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, the people, alarmed at the recent encroachments upon 

J L their chartered rights, framed for themselves a libera 

1G94. constitution. The Assemhly would levy no tax until 
this was granted. When Penn arrived, he recognized as 
valid what the people had done. When the proposition 
iVOO. was made to form a " constitution which would be firm 
and lasting," he said to them, " Keep what is good in the 
charter and frame of government, and add what may best 
suit the common good." It was agreed to surrender the 
old charter, and in its place frame a new constitution. 
1702. The territories wished to be separate, and Delaware 
was permitted to have her own legislature ; though the 
governor was to be the same as that of Pennsylvania 
The two governments were never again imited. All the 
political privileges the people desired he cheerfully 
granted ; they enjoyed religious liberty, and annually 
elected their own magistrates. 

A large emigration began about this period, and con- 
tinued for half a century, to pour into Pennsylvania from 
the north of Ireland and from Scotland. These were 
principally Presbyterians. They settled in the eastern 
and middle parts of the colony, and thence gradually ex- 
tended their settlements west, making inroads upon the 
forest. 

When Penn returned to the colony it was his inten- 
tion to remain, and make it the home of his children. 
Rumors, however, reached the province that the charters 
of all the colonies were to be taken away, and they 
thrown upon the tender mercies of ' court favorites. He 
had not only purchased his territory from Charles, but he 
had bought the land from the Indians themselves ; he 
was therefore the sole owner of the unoccupied soil of 
Pennsylvania. These rumors rendered it necessary for 
him to return to England. Having arranged" the govern- 
ment so as best to promote the interests of the people, he 
bade farewell to the colony, for which he. had spent the 



f 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. - 139 

better part of his life, aiacl for which he breathed his part- ciJap 
ing blessing. 

The virtues of William Penn saved the colony, so 1700. 
dear to his heart, from becoming a province ruled by 
royal governors and imj)overished by tax-gatherers. His 
enemies never could persuade the court to deprive him 
of his property. Though in his old age so poor, on ac- 
count of the sacrifices he had made, as to be compelled to 
go for a season to a debtor's prison, he refused to sell his 
estates in America unless he could secure for the people 
the full enjoyment of their liberties. His death was as 
peaceful as his life had been benevolent. He left three 1718. 
sons, who were minors. For them the government was 
administered by deputies until the Kevolution, when the i7V6 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased their claims for 
more than half a million of dollars. 

Six years after the death of Penn, there came to 
Philadelphia a youth of seventeen, who was yet to exert 
a great influence, not merely upon that colony but upon 
the others, while his fame was to be as great in tBe world 
of science. This youth was Benjamin Franklin, a 
native of Boston, the son of a tallow-chandler ; at which 
business, till ten years of age, he labored. But his ardent 
mind craved something far beyond. During his leisure 
time, and till late at night, he read and ajipreciated 
all the books he could borrow, and his limited means 
could purchase. 

At twelve he was bound to his eldest brother, a jirint- 
er, to learn the art. There he experienced, not the 
kindness of a brother but the harshness of a tyrant. 
Worn out with this oppression, the determined youth 
sold his little library to furnish means to travel, and, 
without giving notice to his friends, left to seek his for- 
tune in the wide world. He travelled first to New 
York, where he tarried but a day, and then passed on to 
Philadelphia. There he arrived a stranger — his money 



9 

140 HISTORY OF THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, reduced to a single dollar ; a jienny roll served him foi 

his first dinner. In one of the two printing-offices of the 

1724. city he sought and obtained employment. Afterward he 
went to London, where he spent a year and a half in the 
same business ; then returned, but every thing that could 
be of avail to him he had carefully marked and treasured 
up. In truth he never lost a moment ; nothing escaped 
his notice, whether in the natural or political world. His 
wonderful combination of diligence, keen observation, and 
practical wisdom, fitted him to trace the current of 
human affairs, as well as deduce laws from the phenomena 
of nature. 

His experiments in electricity, the discovery of its 
identity with lightning, and the invention of the light- 
ninsr-rod, made his name famous in the universities and 
courts of the Old World ; while his " Poor Kichard's 
Almanac," with its aphorisms of worldly wisdom, pene- 
trated every nook and corner of his native land, and by 
its silent influence did much to inculcate the virtues of 
industrj' and economy. 

" The first native of America, who wrote the Eng- 
lish language with classic taste and elegance," his influ- 
ence was impressed upon the literature of the land. He 
established the first American periodical magazine, con- 
ducted a newspaper, and wrote popular pamphlets on 
topics of public interest. 

Pennsylvania seems to have been the chosen home oi 
1560. the Germans. In the autumn of one j'ear came twenty 
ships to Philadelphia, with twelve thousand German em- 
igrants on board. The two following years brought each 
nearly as many. Tije Rev. Henry M. Muhlenburg, whose 
influence was exerted for fifty years in laying the foundation 
of the Lutheran church in America, had already com- 
l'!42. menced his labors. The Swedish churches on the Delaware 
sympathized in doctrine with the Lutheran, but in time 
the former, more inclined to adojit the English language, 
united with the Episcopal church. 





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I 




CHAPTER XV. 

COLONIZATION OF THE CAROLINAS. 

Tlie first Settlers. — Gi-iints to Eoval Favorites. — Tlie "Grand Model." — Set- 
tlement at Cape Fear River. — Sir John Yeanians. — Emigrant."! under 
Savle. — Tlie Huguenots. — The People Independent. — Rice. — Church- 
men and Dissenturs. — Manufactures prohibited. — War between Eng- 
land and Spain. — Failure to Capture St. Augustine. — The ruin of the 
Appalachees. — Indiau Wars. — German Emigrants. — The People repu- 
diate the Authority of the Proprietaries. 

We have now to speak of the permanent settlement of chap. 

the land, wlfich the chivalric Sir Walter Raleigh en- _^ 

deavored to colonize ; and to which the noble Coligny ]G'22. 
sent his countrymen to found a Protestant State, and 
where they perished by the hand of Spanish violence. 
That vast region, extending from the southern border of 
Virginia to the northern border of Florida, was repre- 
sented as a " delightsome land " by the adventurers who 
had explored it. Thither, during the space of forty years, 
emigrants had gone from Virginia. These were Dis- 
senters, a term which now began to be applied to all 
Protestants not attached to the Church of England. 
This Church, established by law in Virginia, exercised 
great illiberality toward those who would not conform to 
its ceremonies ; and many Dissenters, greatly annoyed by 
the collectors of tythes, emigrated further south. Among 
them was a company of Presbyterians who settled on- the |553_ 
Chowan. Berkeley, governor of Virginia, assumed juris- 
diction over them by appointing one of their number. 



142 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. William Drummond, governor. Drummond was a Scotch- 

, man by birth, a devoted advocate of popular liberty, the 

1653. same who afterward, as has been related, returned tc 
Virginia, and was put to death by Berkeley for the j)art 
he took in Bacon's attempt to vindicate the rights of the 
1670. people. 

Charles II., who gave away vast regions with as much 
coolness as if they really belonged to him, granted to 
eight of his favorites a charter and certain privileges, to 
1 063. repay them for their loyalty in restoring him to the throne 
of his father. This grant was of the territory extending 
from the present southern line of Virginia to the St. 
Johns, in Florida, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
Many of these proprietaries were men of influence in their 
day. Among these were the Earl of Clarendon, who was 
prime minister ; Sir Ashley Cooper, better known as the 
Earl of Shaftesbury ; General Monk, Duke of Albemarle, 
who took an active part in the restoration of Charles ; Sir 
William Berkeley, whom we have met iff Virginia his- 
tory ; and Sir George Carteret, a proprietary of New 
Jersey. They professed to have- " a pious zeal for the 
spread of the gospel," but their conduct has led the world 
to believe that they desired more to enrich themselves by 
means of a vast land speculation. 

The labor of framing a government for their empire in 
the New World +hey intrusted to Shaftesbury, and the 
celebrated jjhilosopher, John Locke. Their joint produc- 
tion by pre-eminence vvas named the "Grand Model" or 
" Fundamental Constitutions." In it the right to rule 
was assumed to belong only to those of noble blood ; and 
therefore its principles were pronounced immortal. It 
made provision for Earls, Barons, and Squires, in whose 
hands, under various forms, should be the entire adminis- 
tration of affairs ; while the people were to be attached to 
the soil as tenants. Those who owned fifty acres of land 
had the privilege of voting, and were termed freemen ; but 



THE " GRAND MODEL." 143 

those who were tenants had no such privilege, neither *^hap. 

could they ever rise above that station. To the freemen 

an Assembly was granted, but on such conditions, that its 1663. 
acts were under the control of the aristocracy. Every re- 
ligion was professedly tolerated, but care was taken to 
declare that the Church of England alone was orthodox. 
Such was the frame of government prepared for the people 
of the Carolinas by the united wisdom of two philosophers. 
Had it been designed for a people living in the Middle 
Ages, it might, at least, have had a trial ; an honor to 
which the " Grand Model" never attained. It was 
as easy to convert log-cabins into castles, as to make 
the people perpetual tenants ; they might be made 
nobles, but never dependents. Great numbers of them had 
left Virginia expressly to escape restraint and oppression ; 
and they had very little respect for the authfirity of the 
proprietaries, while they certainly did not fear and honor 
the king. 

The contest soon began. The proprietaries claimed 
the territory because the king had given them a charter, 
and they demanded quit-rents ; the settlers, already in 
possession, claimed their lands because they had pur- 
chased them from the Indians. Why should they pay 
quit-rents .'' 

A few years before, a-small company from New Eng- icoi, 
land had formed a settlement on Cape Fear river. Every 
inducement was held out to retain these settlers, and to 
encourage others to join them. To each one was oflered one 
hundred acres of land, at a quit-rent of half a penny an 
acre ; but the barrenness of the soil neutralized every 
effort. Many of these colonists returned home, and the 
distress of the remainder was so great, that contributions 
in their behalf were taken up in New England. 

Three years later quite an accession was made to this ]G6t. 
settlement by a company of planters from the Barbadoes. 
Sir John Yeamans, their leader, was appointed governor. 



14:i FISTOKT OF TUE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

CHAP. He was instructed, in order to induce others to come, to 

XV. 

be " very tender" toward the New Englanders. The 

1664. jjeople did the best they could with theirpine barrens, by 
uiaking staves and sliingles ; these they sent to the West 
Indies : a trade carried on to this day from that region. 
It was enacted that debts contracted out of the colony 
could not be collected from the emigrant by process of 
law until he had been a resident five years. It thus be- 
came a partial asylum for debtors. 
1670. A company of emigrants, under the direction of Wil- 

liam Sayle, was also sent by the projirietaries ; and to 
superintend their own interests they appointed Joseph 
West commercial agent. They landed first at Port 
Eoyal, where the remains of the fort buUt by tlie Hugue- 
nots, one hundred years before, were still visible. It had 
been called Carolina, in honor of the reigning French 
king ; the name was now retained in honor of Cliarles of 
England. One of the proprietaries, Carteret, gave his 
name to the colony. For some reason they, before long, 
removed to another situation further north, where they 
formed a settlement between two rivers, which, in honor 
of Shaftesbury, were named the Ashley and the Cooper. 
A location near the harbor, and better suited for commer- 
cial purposes, was afterward noticed. In process of time 
a village grew up on this spot ; it is now known as the city 
of Charleston. 

The colony continued to increase from emigration. 
Dissenters came, hoj^ing to enjoy the religious rights 
denied them at home ; Dutch and Germans from Europe ; 
Presbyterians from the North of Ireland as well as from 
Scotland — the latter furnishing great numbers of " phy- 
sicians, clergymen, lawyers, and schoolmasters; " — Church- 
men from England, who expected their church to be 
established in accordance with the provisions of the 
" Grand Model ; " emigrants from New York, because of 
the high-handed measures of the English 



THE HUGUENOTS. 145 

and Huguenots, under the patronage of Charles II. He chap. 

wished to introduce the culture of the vine and olive, the 

raising of silk-worms, and ultimately the manufacture of 1670. 
silk. Great numbers of the Huguenots, from Languedoc, 
ill tlie South of France, came to the Carolinas, attracted 
by the genial climate, 

A law granting toleration to the Protestants of France 
was made by Henry IV. : this was the famous Edict of 1598. 
Nantes, thus named from the city where it was given. 
This law remained in force almost ninety years, when it 
was revoked by Louis XIV. He had, as long as he 16S5 
could enjoy it, spent his life in vice and the grossest de- 
bauchery ; now he thought to silence the clamors of con- 
science, that terrible enemy of wicked men, and yet win 
heaven by converting to the Romish church his Protestant 
subjects. Encouraged in this by the priests and the 
wiles of an apostate woman, he let loose upon these indus- 
trious and well-disposed people the terrors of persecution. 
Why go into the detail of their wrongs .' — the heart 
sickens at the remembrance. By a refinement of cruelty, 
they were forbidden to flee from their native land, and 
every avenue of escape was guarded by their inveterate 
enemies. Yet, after encountering unheard-of dangers and 
trials, many of them did escape, and more than five hun- 
dred thousand fled to different parts of the world. In the 
New World they were everywhere welcomed by sympa- 
.thizing friends. 

The Huguenots were so far superior to the Catholic 
portion of the French nation, in intelligence and the 
knowledge of the mechanic arts, that nearly all the manu- 
flictures of the country were in their hands. This skill 
they carried with them, and they thus became desirable 
citizens wherever they chose to settle. In South Carolina 
their influence was speci.illy felt. Their quiet and inof- 
fensive manners won for them respect ; their integrity and 
Industry gave them influence. Ere lone: they mingled 
10 



146 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

HHAP. with lie inhabitants ; and their descendants, almost uni- 
versally, when the hour of trial came, were found on the 

1670. side of justice and libertj'. 

The original inhabitants of the Carolinas were peculiar 
in their character. Numbers of them went thither from 
the other colonies to avoid restraint ; they refused to pay 
taxes to the proprietaries or to the king, or duties on 
■ trade ; they were friendly to the buccaneers or pirates, who 
infested the Southern waters ; they warred against the In- 
dians, to obtain captives to be sent to the West Indies and 
sold as slaves. There were no towns in the colony ; the 
planters were scattered along the streams and valleys. 
There were no roads ; they travelled along paths through 
the woods, known only by the blazed trees, or on the 
rivers by means of row-boats. The jjroprietaries soon saw 
the impossibility of inducing a people so free and fearless 
to conform to a government under the " Grand Model." 

Sir John Yeamans, who had been appointed governor, 

1671. brought with him, on his return from Barbadoes, fifty 
families, and nearly two hundred slaves. This was the 
commencement of negro slavery in South Carolina. The 
slaves increased very raj)idly, and in a few years so many 
had been introduced that in number they were nearly two 
to one of the whites. 

Yeamans, "a sordid calculator," had been impover- 
ished in England, and went abroad to improve his fortune. 
He took sjiecial pains to guard his own interests ; for this 
reason he was dismissed by the proprietaries. Under his 
successor, the wise and liberal West, the colony flourished 
for some years. He, too, was dismissed, not because he 
favored himself but because he favored the people. 

The next struggle came, when an attempt was made 
to levy duties on the little trade of the colony. The people 
considered themselves independent of the projirietaries as 
well as of the king, and under no obligation to pay taxes 
in any form. That there was much dissatisfaction in the 



DISPUTES AND PARTIES. 147 

colony, may be inferred from the fact that in the ^^af. 

space of six years it had five governors. To allay these . 

troubles James Colleton, a brother of one of the pro- 1671. 
prietaries, was sent as governor. But when he attempted 
to collect rents and taxes he met with as little success as 
any of his predecessors : the jjeople seized the records of 
the province, imprisoned his secretary, and boldly defied 
him and his authority. 

Though many of the settlers left Virginia on account 
of the want of religious privileges, they fovuid but very few 
ministers of the gosjDel in the country. Quaker preachers 
were the first to visit the Carolinas ; afterward George 
Fox himself carried them the truth as he believed it. The 
people warmly welcomed the messenger of the gospel. 
The influence of this visit was to strengthen the hearts of 
his followers, and to make many converts. The Quakers, 
everywhere the friends of popular rights, exerted much in- 
fluence against the arbitrary rule of the proprietaries. 

There arose a party of " Cavaliers and ill-livers," 
whose morals were fashioned after those of the court of the 
profligate Charles. Opposition was excited by their high- 
handed measures, and another party sprang into existence; 
it was composed of the Presbyterians, Quakers, and the • 
Huguenots, who had recently been admitted to the rights 
of citizenship. The disputes were chiefly in relation to 
rents and land tenures. 

In the midst of this confusion, an upright Quaker, 
John Archdale, was elected governor. He assumed the 1034 
part of mediator, and attempted, with some success, to 
reconcile the disputants. In selecting his council he chose 
men of all parties, and by various judicious regulations 
partially allayed the strife. By just treatment he made 
friends of the Indians ; he ransomed and sent home some 
of their Indian converts, who were held by a neighboring 
tribe as slaves, and thus conciliated the Spaniards at St. 
Augustine. The kind act was reciprocated ; the Spaniards 



148 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, restored to their friends some English sailors shipwrecked 

on their coast. 

1694. Tlie Dissenters numbered two-thirds of the jjopulatioii. 

yet, for the sake of peace, they consen'red that one minister 
of the Church of England should be maintained at the 
public expense. Upon one occasion the Churchmen and 
aristocracy accidentally had a majority of one in the 
Assembly ; they manifested their gratitude for the con- 
cession just mentioned, by depriving the Dissenters of all 
their political privileges ; they made the Church of Eng- 
land the established church, to be maintained at the pub- 
lic expense, and proceeded to divide the colony into 
parishes, to which the " Society for the Propagation of 

1704. the Gospel" was to appoint pastors. The aggrieved 
people appealed to the House of Lords for redress ; and 
the intolerant act of the Legislature was declared to be 
null and void. The law disfranchising Dissenters was re- 
pealed, that granting a support to the Church of England 
remained in force till the Revolution. 

Notwithstanding these difficulties the colony pros- 
pered, and increased in numbers from emigration. Among 
these a company from Massachusetts formed a settlement 

1608 twenty miles back of Charleston. During Archdale's ad- 
ministration, tlie captain of a ship from Madagascar gave 
him some rice, which he distributed among the planters 
to be sown. The experiment was successful, and soon 
Carolina rice was celebrated as the best in the world. 
The fur trade with the Indians was also profitable, while 
the forests produced their share of profit in lumber and 
tar. 

The colonists attempted to manufacture domestic 
cloths to supply their own wants ; an enterprise they were 
soon compelled to abandon. The manufacturers and mer- 
chants of England complained, as they themselves wished 
to enjoy the profits that would arise from supplying them. 
Parliament passed an act forbidding woollen goods to be 



EXPEDITION AGAINST ST. AUGUSTINE. 149 

transported from one colony to another, or to any foreign ^j^^**- 

port. This unrighteous law, as was designed, broke up 

nearly all colonial trade and manutactures, and gave the 1699. 
English trader and manufacturer the monopoly of both. 
We shall see how this policy affected all the colonists. In 
tlie Carolinas, they could only engage in planting, and a 
new impulse was given to the slave trade. 

War had arisen between England and Spain, and their 
children in the New World unfortunately took up arms 
against each other. James Moore, who was now governor 
of Carolina, undertook an expedition against St. Augus- 
tine. He is represented as a " needy, forward, ambitious 
man," who was in the habit of kidnapping Indians and 
selling them as slaves : now he hoped to plunder the 
Spaniards at St. Augustine. He })ressed some vessels into 1702. 
his service, and set sail with a portion of the troops, and 
sent otliers with the Indian allies by land. The town was 
easily taken, but the soldiers retired to a well fortified fort, 
and defied the besiegers. Moore must send to the island 
of Jamaica for cannon, to enable him to take the fort. 
Meanwhile an Indian runner had sped through the forest 
to Mobile, and informed the French settlers there of what 
was going on. They sent word to Havana. We may judge 
the surprise of Moore, when he saw two Spanish men-of- 
war come to rescue St. Augustine, instead of the vessel he 
expected from Jamaica. He immediately abandoned his 
supplies and stores, and made his way by land as best he 
could, to Charleston. The colony, by this unwise and 
wicked expedition, only gained a debt which pressed heavily 
upon the people for years. 

The Appalachees of Florida, under the influence of 
Spanish priests, had become converts to Romanism ; they 
built churches, and began to cultivate the soil and live in 
villages. As free intercourse existed between Florida and 
Louisiana; the English colonists professed alarm at the 
influence the French and Spaniards might have over the 



150 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLB- 

CHAP. Indians of that region. This furnished an excuse for the 
ambitious Moore to lead an expedition against these inoffen- 

1705. sive Indians, whose only crime was, that they were willing 
to be taught religion and agriculture by Spanish priests.' 
V/ith about fifty whites and one thousand friendly Indians, 
he went through the wilderness, away across the State of 
Georgia, down on the Gulf to Appalachee Bay. The first 
intimation the Indians had of this freebooting expedition 
was an attack upon their village, one morning at daylight. 
The assailants met with so warm a reception, that at first 

• they were forced to retire, but not uniU they had set fire 
to a church. There happened to be in the bay a Spanish 
ship, whose commander the next day, with a few white 
men and four hundred Indians, made an attack on the 
invaders, but he was defeated. The Indian villages were 
now destroyed, the churches plundered of their plate, and 
numbers of Indians taken captive, and removed to the banks 
of tlie Altamaha, wliile their own country was given to tlie 
Seminoles, the allies of the invaders. Thus the English 
placed Indians friendly to themselves between the Spanish 
and French settlements, while in virtue of this expedition 
they claimed the soil of Georgia. More than one hundred 
and twenty-five years afterward, the descendants of these 
Seminoles were removed beyond the Missfssippi. Even 
then the ruins of churches marked the stations of the Span- 
ish missions among the Appalachees. 

The next year brought Charleston two unexpected 
enemies — a malignant fever, and while it was raging, a 
squadron of Spanish and French ships to avenge the attack 

1706. npon the Appalachees. The people, under William Rhet 
and Sir Nathaniel Johnson, were soon ready to meet them. 
When they landed, they were opposed at every point, and 
driven back. A French ship was captured ; and of the 
eight hundred men who landed, more than three hundred 
were either killed or taken prisoners. This victory was 
looked upon as a great triumph. 



RELIGIOUS CONTEOVEESIES. 151 

In this conflict tlie Huguenots performed well their ^^^^ 

part. An unusual number of them had settled in Charles- 

ton ; here they founded a church, its forms of worship the 1698. 
same as those to which the}' were accustomed at home. 
This church still remains, the only one in the land that has 
preserved inviolate these pristine forms. 

A general effort was now made to extend the influence 
of the Church of England in the colonies. The politic 
William of Orange looked upon the project with a favor- 
able eye. A " Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 
in foreign jjarts " was formed in England. Its object, the 1701. 
conversion of the Indians, was worthy ; but at this time, 
by means of worldly men and politicians, its influence was 
directed to the establishment of the Church of England in 
all the American colonies. The project everywhere met 
with great composition except in Virginia; there the dissent- 
ers were few in number. This society founded many 
churches in the colonies, which remain even to this day. 

North Carolina was called the " Sanctuary of Run- 1712. 
aways," a " land where there was scarcely any government," 
with a population made up of " Presbyterians, Independ- 
ents, Quakers, and other evil-disposed persons." Such was 
the language of royalists and those opposed to freedom in 
religious opinions. The proprietaries determined to estab- 
lish the Church of England, and maintain it at public ex- 
pense. Those who refused to conform to this law were 
debarred from holding ofiices of trust. The people did 
refuse, and soon there "was but one clergyman in the 
whole country;" and those in favor of freedom in religious 
opinions, were stigmatized as a " rabble of profligate per- 
sons." These tyrannies finally led to open rebellion on the 
part of the people, who wished to govern themselves, and 
when unmolested did it well. 

Thus far North Carolina had escaped the horrors of 
Indian warfare. There were many tribes west and south 
of their territory. The greater part of the region now 



152 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

'"' vv''' occupied by the States of Georgia and Alabama, was the 

home of the Creeks or Muscogees, numbering nearly thirty 

1712. thousand. 

The territory of the Yamassees lay immediately west 
of the settlement on the north bank of the Savannah. In 
the vicinity were the Catawbas, on the river which per- 
petuates their name. West of these, a mountaineer tiibe, 
the Cherokees, roamed through the beautiful valleys of 
the upj^er Tennessee, while they claimed as their hunting 
grounds the regions north of them to the Kanawha and 
the Ohio. 

A great change had come over the powerful tribes 
aloug the coast. The Hatteras tribe, which, in Raleigh's 
time, one hundred and twenty-five years before, numbered 
nearly twenty thousand, was now reduced to less than one 
hundred. Some tribes had entirely disappeared ; had 
retired farther back into the wilderness, or become extinct. 
Vices copied from the white man had wrought this ruin. 

The Tuscaroras, a warlike tribe, whose ancestors had 
emigrated from the north, became alarmed at the en- 
croachments of the colonists upon their lauds. They 
determined to make an effort to regain their beautiful 
valleys. 

A company of German exiles from the Rhine had 
come under the direction of De Graffenried. The proprieta- 
ries assigned them lands that belonged to the Indians. 
Lawson, the surveyor-general of the province, and Graffen- 
ried, when on an exploring tour up the Neuse, were seized 
by a party of Tuscaroras, who hurried them on, day and 
night, to one of their villages. There several chiefs of the 
tribe held a council, and discussed the wrongs they had 
suffered from the English. They finally determined to 
burn the man, who with compass and chain had marked 
cut their lands into farms for the settlers. When Graff- 
enried made known to them that he had been only a short 
time in the country ; that he was the "chief of a differ- 



THE TUSCARORAS EMIGRATE. 153 

ent tribe from the English," and moreover promised to chap. 

take no more of their lands, they did not put liim to death 

with Lawson. He was kept a prisoner five weeks, and 171?. 
then permitted to return home. During this time, the 
Tuscaroras and their allies, the Corees, had attacked the 
settlements on the Koanoke and Pamlico sound. The l71i. 
carnage continued for three days, and many of the pogr 
jieople, who had fled from persecution at home, perished 
by the tomahawk in the land of their adoption. 

The people appealed to Virginia and to South Carolina 1712 
for aid. Only a part of the Tuscaroras had engaged in 
the attack. With another portion of the tribe, Spots- 
wood, governor of Virginia, made a treaty of peace, — the 
only assistance he could give. Governor Craven of South 
Carolina sent to their aid a small force, and a number of 
friendly Indians. These drove the Tuscaroras to their 
fort, and compelled them to make peace. These same 
troops, as they were returning home, basely violated the 
Ireaty just made ; attacked some Indian towns, and seized 
their inhabitants to sell them as slaves. The war was of 
course renewed. The Tuscaroras, driven from one place 
of concealment to another, and hunted for their scalps or 
for slaves, finally abandoned their fair lands of the south ; 
emigrated across Virginia and Pennsjdvauia to the home 
of their fathers, and there, at the great council-fire of the 
Iroquois, or Five Nations, on Onoida lake in New York, 
were admitted into that confederacy, of which they 
became the sixth nation. At this time, the people of i7i.<i 
Pennsylvania complained of the importation of these cap- 
tives into their colony. A law 'was therefore enacted, 
forbidding the introduction of " negroes and slaves, as 
exciting the suspicion and di^atisfaction of the Indians 
of the province." 

The war seemed to be ended, and the traders of South 
Carolina especially, extended their traflic with the tribes 
who lived in the region between that colony and the Mis- 



154 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, sissippi. Soon after, these traders were driven from the 

villages of some of the more western tribes. This was 

1713. attributed to the influence of the French of Louisiana. 

The Yamassees, whom we have seen in alliance with 
the colonists against the Tuscaroras, when they hoped to 
obtain captives, now renewed their friendship with the 
Spaniards, with whom they had been at variance, — for they 
hated the priests, who attempted to convert them. They 
induced the Catawbas, the Creeks and the Cherokees, 
who had also been allies of the colonists against the 
Tuscaroras, to join them. This alliance was likewise 
attributed to Spanish and French influence. Governoi 
Spotswood seems to have revealed the truth, when he wrote 
to the " Board of Trade " in London, that " the Indians 
never break with the English without gross provocation 
from persons trading with them." These tribes had been 
looked upon as •' a tame and peaceable people," and fair 
game for unprincipled traders. 
1715. The savages cunningly laid their plans, and suddenly, 

one morning, fell upon the unsuspecting settlers, killed 
great numbers and took many prisoners. The people fled 
toward the sea-shore. A swift runner hastened to Port 
Royal and alarmed the inhabitants, who escaped as best 
they could to Charleston. The Indians continued to 
prowl around the settlements, and drove the inhabitants 
before them, until the colony was on the verge of ruin. 

The enemy received their first check from forces sent 
from North Carolina. Governor Craven acted with his* 
usual energy, he raisfed a few troops and went to meet the 
savage foe. The contest was long and severe ; in the end 
the Indian power was broken. The Yamassees emigrated 
to Florida, where they weje welcomed with joy by the 
Spaniards at St. Augustine. The other tribes retired fur- 
ther into the wilderness. Yet war-parties of the Yamas- 
sees continued, for years, to make incursions against the 
frontier settlements, and kept them in a state of alarm. 



CHARTER OF THE PROPRIETARIES FORFEITED. 155 

The proprietaries made no eifort to protect the colo- *"Sy'' 

nists or to share the expense of the war. They at length 

determined, as they must defend themselves, also to man- 1715. 
age their own affairs, and they resolved " to have no more 
to do with the proprietaries, nor to have any regard to 
their officers." On the other hand, the proprietaries com- 
plained that the " people were industriously searching for 
grounds of quarrel with them, with the view of throwing 
off their authority." The matter was brought before Par- 
liament, which declared the charter of the proprietaries to 
be forfeited. 

Francis Nicholson, who for many years had been ex- 
perimenting as a colonial governor, and, as he said, " been 
falsely sworn out of Virginia and lied out of Nova Scotia," 
was appointed provisional governor. He was not an exam- 1720, 
pie of good temper, and much less of good morals. He 
made a treaty with the Cherokees, who were to permit , 
only Englishmen to settle on their lands ; and with the 
Creeks, whose hunting-grounds were to extend to the 
Savannah. He had battled against popular rights in the 
north, now he thought best to make his path easy, and he 
confirmed all the laws passed by the revolutionary Assem- 
bly. However, when he left the country he mourned over 
the " spirit of commonwealth notions which prevailed," 
as the result, as he said, of intercourse with the New 
Englanders, who, at this time, were busily engaged in 
trading with the Carolinas. 

These disputes were at length ended by an act of Par- 
liament. Seven of the proprietaries sold out their claims 
to the government of England. The two Carolinas were 1729 
now sejjarated, and a royal governor appointed for each. 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

COLONIZATION OP GEORGIA. 

Founded in Benevolence. — Oglethorpe. — First Emigration. — Savannah. — 
Encouragements. — Germans from the Western Alps. — Augusta. — Thi: 
Moravi.ins.— Scotch Highlanders. — The Wesleys. — Whitefield, his Or- 
phan House. — War with Spain ; its Cause. — Failure to Capture St. Au- 
gustine. Repulse of the Spanish Invaders. — The Colony becomes a 
Royal Province. 

CHAP. "VVe have seen some colonies founded as asylums for 

the oppressed for conscience' sake, and others the off- 

1732. spring of royal grants to needy courtiers, — bankrupt in 
fortune,' and sometimes in morals, seeking in their old age 
to retrieve the follies of their youth. It is now a pleasure 
to record the founding of an asylum not alone for the 
oppressed for conscience' sake, but for the victims of un- 
righteous law — a colony the offspring of benevolence ; the 
benevolence of one noble-hearted man, ; — one who, born 
in affluence, devoted his wealth, his mind and his energies 
to the great work. James Edward Oglethorpe, " the poor 
man's friend," " a Christian gentleman of the Cavalier 
school," had sympathy for the unfortunate who were im- 
mured within prison walls, not for crime, but for debt. 
He labored to have repealed the laws authorizing such 
imprisonment, and to reform the entire prison discipline 
of England. 

His efforts did not end here ; he desired to provide ii; 
America an asylum for those who were, while in their own 
land, at the mercy of heard-hearted creditors, as well as 



A TEUST FOR THE POOR. 157 

a place of refuge for tlie poor, where comfort and happi- chai- 

ness might be the reward of industry and virtue. There 

were, at this time, in England, more than four thousand 1T32. 
men in prison for debt, with no hope of relief. Through 
his exertions, " multitudes were restored to light and 
freedom, who by long confinement were strangers and 
helpless in the country of their birth." 

Others became interested in his schemes of benevo- 
lence, and a petition numerously signed by men of influ- 
ence and family was presented to the king. They asked 
a charter to colonize the territory south of the Savannah 
river, then included in Carolina, with unfortunate debtors, 
and with Protestants from the continent of Europe. A 
grant was given by George II. of the region lying between 
the Savannah and the Altamaha, and from their head 
springs west to the Pacific. The territory was to be 
known as Georgia. It was given " in trust for the poor " 
to twenty-one trustees for the space of twenty-one years. 
The trustees manifested their zeal by giving their services 
without any reward. 

The climate of this region was thought to be very fa- 
vorable for the raising of silk-worms, and the cultivation 
of the grape. Merchants, therefore, who could not be 
otherwise influenced, were induced to favor the cause by 
hopes of gain. The " free exercise of religion " was guar- 
anteed to all " except papists." Under no conditions was 
land to be granted in tracts of more than five hundred 
acres. This was designed to enable the poor to become 
owners of the soil, and to prevent the rich from monopo- 
lizing the best lands. 

Much interest was taken in this new field of benevo- 
lence, and donations were made by all classes of society. 
What a transition for the poor debtor ! He was to ex- 
change the gloomy walls of a prison for a home in that 
delightful land, where grim poverty never would annoy 
hira more ! It was determined to take as colonists only 



158 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, the most needy aud helpless, and, as far as possible, ex- 
'_ elude those of bad morals. 

1732. Thirty-five families, numbering altogether one hundred 
and fifty persons, embarked for their new homes. While 
others gave to the enterprise their substance and influ- 
ence, Oglethorpe volunteered to superintend the colony in 
person. They took with them " a clergyman with Bibles, 
Prayer-bouks, and Catechisms," and one person who was 
skilled in the raising of silk. The company landed first 
at Charleston ; by a vote of the Assembly, they were 
welcomed, and presented with supplies of rice and cattle. 

Oglethorpe hastened to explore the Savannah. On a 
bluff twenty miles from its mouth he planted his colony. 
This bluff was already in the possession of a small band 
of Indians, from whom it was named the Yamacraw. 
Through the efforts of Mary Musgrove, who acted as in- 
terpreter, the bluff was purchased. This woman was a 
daughter of a Ucliee chief, and had been sent to school 
in Charleston, where she had married an English trader. 

1733, The colonists immediately began to build and fortify 
their town, which they named Savannah, the Indian name 
of the river. The town was regularly laid out, with wide 
streets and spacious squares. A garden of some acres 
was inclosed for a nursery of mulberry-trees to feed silk- 
worms ; and here also experiments were made, in order to 
introduce European fruits. 

The aged chief of the little band of Indians wished 
protection. He presented to Oglethorpe a buffalo skin, 
on the inside of which was painted an eagle. " The eagle," 
said he, " signifies speed, and the buffalo strength ; the 
English are swift as the eagle, for they have flown over 
vast seas ; they are as strong as the buffalo, for nothing 
can withstand them ; the feathers of the eagle are soft, 
and signify love ; the buffalo's skin is warm, and signifies 
protection ; therefore, I hope the English will love and 
protect our little families." The hopes of poor old 



EMIGRANTS J LUTHERANS, 159 

Tomochechi and his tribe were doomed to be sadly dis- 9.?'>p 

•' XVI. 

appointed. 

The genial climate delighted the colonists, and they 1733. 
went cheerfully to work, building their houses. The 
chief's of the lower Creeks came and made a treaty ; they 
acknowledged the English rule from the Savannah to the 
St. John's, and west to the Chattahoochee, and gave 
them permission to cultivate the lands not used by their 
own people. Then came a messenger from the distant 
Cherokees, pledging the friendship of his tribe. Soon 
after came a Choctaw chief saying, " I have come a 
great way ; I belong to a great nation ; the French are 
among us ; we do not like them ; they build forts and 
trade with us ; their goods are poor, and we wish to trade 
with you." Thus the way was opened for a profitable 
traffic with the tribes north of the gulf, and west to the 
Mississippi. 

The fame of this delightful land reached Europe, and 
penetrated even into the fastnesses of the western Alps. 
There, long ages before the Reformation, a pure gospel 
had been taught. Now a persecution was raging, and the 
sufferings of these Christians, now become Lutherans, deep- 
ly enlisted the sympathies of the English people. These 
Germans were invited by the " Society for the Propaga- 
tion of the Gospel," to emigrate to Georgia, where they 
could be free from their persecutors, and lands were oifered 
them ; but they rejoiced more than all in the opportunity 
given them to carry the gospel to the Indians. Money 
wai5 subscribed by the benevolent in England to enable 
them to travel from Augsburg, across the country to 
Frankfort on the Main. Nearly one hundred set out on 
their pilgrimage ; they took with them, in wagons, their 
wives and children ; their Bibles and books of devotion. 
The men as they travelled on foot beguiled the toils of their 
journey by singing praises to God, and offering prayers for 
his guiding hand, and his blessing on their enterprise. 



160 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS PEOPLE. 

CHAP. They passed down the Main to its junction witli tlie 
Ebine, and thence floated down to Rotterdam, where they 

1733. were joined by two clergymen, Bolziiis and Gronaii. They 
sailed to England, and w-ere there met and encouraged by 
a committee of the trustees, and thence to their distant 
home across the ocean. The faith that had cheered them 
on their native mountains, sustained them amid the* 
storms of the Atlantic ; when, during a terrible tempest, 
the waves broke over the ship, and caused an outcry of 
alarm from the English, they continued their devotions 
and calmly sung on. When one of them was asked, 
" Were you not afraid ? " " I thank God, no," was the 
reply. " But were not your women and children afraid ? " 
'■ No, our women and children are not afraid to die." 

A passage of fifty-seven days brought them to receive 
a hearty welcome at Charleston from Oglethorpe, and in 

1734. less than a week they were at their journey's end. A 
suitable place had been chosen for their residence, they 
founded a village a short distance above Savannah, and 
significantly named it Ebenezer. In gratitude they raised 
a monumental stone as a memento of the goodness of God 
in thus bringing them to a land of rest. They were joined 
from time to time by cithers from their native land. By 
their industry and good morals they secured prosperity, 
and also the respect of their fellow-colonists. 

At the head of boat navigation on the Savannah the 
town of Augusta was now founded. This soon became 
an important trading post with the Indians. 

Oglethorpe gave himself unweariedly to the work of 
benefiting those he governed. The success of the enter- 
prise may be safely attributed to his disinterested labors. 
" He," said Governor Johnson, of South Carolina, " nobly 
devotes all his powers to save the poor, and to rescue them 
from their wretchedness." After the residence of a ycal 
and a half he returned to England, taking with him 



JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY. 161 

several Indian chiefs, and raw silk — the product of tlie c^^p 
colony — sufficient to make a robe for the queen. 

As an inducement for settlers, the trustees offered to 1734. 
each one who should emigrate, at his own expense, 
fifty acres of land. On these conditions came a number 
of Moravians or United Brethren, with the intention of 
devoting themselves to the conversion of the Indians. 1735. 
They formed a new settlement on the Ogeechee, south of 
the Savannah. 

The same benevolent spirit which had relieved poor 
debtors in prison, now devised measures to ward off one 
of the most effective causes of debt and wretchedness ; 
and accordingly the importation of rum into the colony 
was prohibited. The trustees also forbid negro slavery, 
" that misfortune of other plantations." They did not 
wish to see their province " filled with blacks, the preca- 
rious property of a few." They looked upon it as cruel 
and inhuman, and injurious to the '" poor white settlers," 
for whom, in trust, they held the colony. 

The next year Oglethorpe returned, with more emi- 1736. 
grants, among whom was a party of Scotch Highlanders, 
•with their minister, John McLeod. These founded a set- 
tlement at Darien, on the Altamaha. There likewise 
came two young men as preachers to the people, and as 
missionaries to the Indians. These were the brothers 
John' and Charles Wesley, — men of ardent piety and zeal- 
ous in the cause of religion, they hoped to make the 
colony eminent for its religious character. Enthusiastic 
in their feelings, and perhaps a little wanting in discretion, 
certainly in experience, they were soon involved in trouble. 
For a time, John Wesley drew crowds of hearers ; places 
of amusement were almost deserted. We doubt not that 
he spoke the truth plainly, and in accordance with his 
duty, but his austere manners and denunciation of sin 
created him enemies. In one ca.se, his severe exercise of 
church discipline excited bitter feeling against himself, 
11 



162 HISTOET OF THE AMEEICAST PEOPLE. 

CHAP, and sympathy for the victim of his injudicious zeal. 

L Charles Wesley was, for awhile, the secretary of Ogle- 

1738. thorpe, but in some unexplained manner he gave offence 
to his patron ; at length an explanation took place, and a 
reconciliation. Kind and gentle in his nature, he was 
unfitted to endure the hardships to be encountered, and 
to sympathize with the iinpolished colonists of Georgia. 
After a residence of less than two years, the Wesleys, dis- 
appointed in their hopes of doing good there, left the 
colony forever. In their native land they became the 
founders of the denomination of Methodists, who have 
been, in that very colony, as well as in others, among the 
foremost in carrying the gospel to destitute settlements. 
Thus their labors were blessed, their prayers were an- 
swered, and their hopes realized ; but, as is often the case 
in the ways of Infinite Wisdom, not in the form and 
manner in which they expected. 

Just as the Wesleys, on their return home, were pass- 
ing up the channel, their friend and fellow-laborer, the 
celebrated George Whitefield, the most eloquent preacher 
of his day, was leaving England to join them in Georgia. 
Whitefield had commenced preaching when a mere youth, 
and by his wonderful eloquence drew great crowds. He 
first preached in the prisons, and then to the poor in the 
open fields. Now he felt it his duty to visit tbe colonies. 
When he arrived in Georgia, his sympathies were .much 
enlisted in behalf of the destitute children, left orphans. 
He visited the Lutherans at Ebenezer, where he noticed 
their asylum for poor children, and determined, if possible, 
to found a similar one. By his fervent zeal in the cause 
he obtained sufficient funds in England and America. 
The institution was founded a few miles from Savannah. 
During his lifetime it flourished ; at his death it began to 
languish, and finally passed out of existence. 

The Spaniards were not pleased with the encroach- 
ments of the English ujion what they deemed their terri- 



ENGLISH TRADEES ; WAR WITH Sl'AIN. 163 

tory, and they sent commissioners to protest against it, ™^^ 

and to demand the surrender of all Georgia and part of 

Carolina. When this was unheeded, they prepared to ex- 1738. 
yjel the invaders. There were other causes, which made 
it evident that war would soon take place between the 
mother countries, in which the colonies would certainly 
become involved. 

The European governments restricted the commerce 
of their colonies so as to make them subserve their own 
interests. Those belonging to Spain must trade only with 
the port of Cadiz, and the merchandise shipped to them 
was sold at enormous prices. The English traders per- 
sisted in smuggling goods into the Spanish ports. To 
accomplish this they resorted to various stratagems. By 
treaty, an English vessel was permitted to come once a 
year to Portobello and dispose of her cargo ; but this 
vessel was followed by others ; they came in the night 
time, and slipped in more bales to supply the place of 
those sold, and continued to do this, till the market was 
supplied. Somelimes, under the pretence of distress, ships 
would run into Spanish ports, and thus dispose of their 
cargoes. 

Though Spain was rich and feeble, she was haughty 
and cruel ; and when any of these worthies, who were 
engaged in violating her laws, were caught, they were 
severely dealt with. Sometimes they were imprisoned, 
and sometimes their ears were cropped. This exasperated 
the traders, and though justly punished, they came with 
the assurance of ill-treated men, to ask protection from 
their own government. They were looked upon as mar- 
tyrs to the cause of free commerce, and merchants, in 
defence of such men as these, did not blush to clamor for 
war, in the face of justice and national integrity. In 
truth, the English government connived at this clandes- 
tine trade, and secretly rejoiced at the advantage gained 
over her rival. By this connivance at injustice she gave 



164 HISTOKT OF THE AMEKICAlir PEOPLE. 

ciJAP. her own colonies a lesson on the subject of tlieir trade, 
which, in less than halt' a century, she found, to her sur- 

1738. jH-ise, tliey had fully learned. 

Another source of irritation to the people of South 
Carolina, was that slaves, who ran away to Florida and 
put themselves under Spanish protection, were not only 
welcomed, but given lands ; organized into military com- 
panies, and armed at the public expense. A demand 
made upon the authorities at St. Augustine to restore the 
runaways, was promjitly refused. Oglethorpe hastened to 
1737. England to make preparations for the coming contest, and 
returned in less than a year, with a regiment of six hun- 
dred men, which he himself had raised and disciplined. 
He was now prepared to defend the southern boundary of 
Georgia. He renewed treaties with the Indian tribes 
north of the Gulf from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, 
and hoped to retain them in his interest. War was, at 

1739. length, declared by England against Spain, and Ogle- 
thorpe received orders, as military commander in Georgia 
and the Carolinas, to invade Florida. With his usual 
energy, he hastened to Charleston to make the necessary 
preparations. Supplies were voted and a regiment en- 
listed ; and, joined by Indian allies, he set out to lay 
siege to St. Augustine. He found the garrison much 
more numerous than he expected, and the fortifications 
stronger. After a short siege, the Indians began to desert, 
and the Carolina regiment, enfeebled by sickness, returned 
home. In five weeks the enterprise was abandoned. On 
this occasion, Oglethorpe exhibited the kindness of his 
nature ; he endured all the privations of the common sol- 
diers. The cajjtives taken were treated kindly, no houses 

1740. were burned, and but little property destroyed. 

This war had a very bad effect upon the colony of 
Georgia. Instead of making farmers of the settlers, it 
made them soldiers, and their farms were neglected. The 
Moravians, who were religiously opposed to bearing arms, 



THE SPANIARDS INVADE GEORGIA. 165 

emigrated, one and all, to Pennsylvania, where they ^S-^J" 
Ibimded the towns of Bethlehem and Nazareth. 

It was ere long the turn of Georgia to be' invaded. ^'^^0. 
For this purpose, the Spaniards at Havana and St. 
Augustine fitted out thirty-six vessels and three thousand 1742. 
troops. The commauder, Monteano, instead of sailing 
direct for Savannah, became entangled among the islands, 
near the mouths of the St. Mary and the Altamaha, while 
endeavoring to take possession of one or two insignificant 
settlements. Oglethorpe ascertained the intention of the 
enemy, but as he had received no assistance from Carolina, 
was ill prepared to meet them. Having hut eight hun- 
dred men, he was forced to retreat from Cumberland jyjy 
island to St. Simons, on which was the little town of 
Frederica, the special object of the Spanish attack. 

After the enemy landed he went to surprise them in 
the night, but as he approached their lines, one of his 
soldiers, a Frenchman, fired his gun, rushed into the ene- 
my's camp, and gave the alarm. Oglethorpe employed 
stratagem to throw suspicion upon the deserter ; he wrote 
him a letter, in which he addressed him as a spy for the 
English, and directed him to induce the Spaniards to 
attack them, or at least to remain where they were until 
the English fleet of six men-of-war, which had sailed from 
Charleston, should reach St. Augustine, and capture it. 
This letter he bribed a Spanish prisoner to carry to the 
Frenchman. As was to be expected, it was taken imme- 
diately to the Spanish commander, and the Frenchman 
soon found himself in irons. In the midst of the alarm, 
some Carolina ships, laden with supplies for Oglethorpe, 
appeared in the offing. Thinking these the veritable men- 
of-war mentioned in the letter, the invaders determined 
to attack and destroy Frederica, before they should sail 
to defend St. .Augustine. On the way they fell into an 
ambuscade, and, at a place since known as the " Bloody 
Marsh," they were signally defeated. The following night 



166 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, they embarked, and sailed to defend St. Augustine from 

. L the expected attack. Thus Georgia and the Carolinas 

1743. were saved from ruin. 

The following year Oglethorpe left the colony forever. 
There he had spent ten years of toil and self-denial ; he 
had for his reward no personal benefit, but the satisfaction 
of founding a State, and of leaving it in a prosperous con- 
dition. The form of government was changed from a 
military to a civil rule, and the various magistrates were 
appointed. 

In time, slavery was gradually introduced. Slaves 
were at first hired from the Carolinas, for a short time, 
and then for one hundred years. The German settlers 
were industrious and frugal, and so were the Highlanders. 
They were opposed to the introduction of slaves. On the 
other hand, great numbers of the English settlers were 
idle and bankrupt from their improvidence ; " they were 
unwilling to labor, but were clamorous for privileges to 
which they had no right." They contended that rum was 
essential to health in that climate, and that none but 
slaves could cultivate the soil of Georgia ; and, in seven 
years after the benevolent Oglethorpe left, slave ships 
brought negroes to Savannah, direct from Africa. 
1750. The trustees, when the twenty-one years for which 

they were to manage the " colony for the poor " were 
expired, resigned their trust, and Georgia became a royal 
1753. province. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

NEW ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES IL AND JAMES II. 

The Restoration. — The Commissioners. — Progress of Trade. — Causes of 
King Philip's War.. — Death of Wamsutta.. — State of the Colony. — At- 
tack at Swanzey. — Philip among the Nipmncks. — Attacks on Northfield, 
and on Hadley. — Gofl'e. — The Tragedy at Bloody Brook. — Philip among 
the Narragansets. — Their Fort captured. — The Warriors take Revenge. 
— Philip returns to Mount Hope to die. — Disasters of the War. — James 
II. — The Charters in danger. — Andros Governor ; his illegal Measures ; 
takes away the Charter of Rhode Island ; not so successful at Hart- 
ford. — Andros in Jail. — The Charters resumed. » 

The first intimation of the restoration of Charles II. chap. 

XVII. 

was brought to New England by two fugitives, Whalley '_ 

and Goffe. They came branded as regicides, for they sat iC60. 
on the trial of Charles I. They had fled for their lives ; 
ere long came the royal command to deliver them up to 
their pursuers, that they might be taken back to England 
and there punished. But royal commands and rewards 
were of no avail, the stern rej^ublicans were not betrayed ; 
the people gloried in protecting them. 

Eumors were afloat that the governments of all the 
colonies were to be changed, and that soon armed ships 
might be expected in the harbor of Boston, sent to enforce 
the royal authority. After a year's delay, it was thought 
prudent to proclaim Charles as king. It was done ungra- 
ciously, as all manifestations of joy were forbidden. 

From time to time intelligence came of the execution 
of many of their b^t friends in England ; among these 
were Hugh Peters and Sir Harry Vane : news came also 



168 HISTORY OE THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, that Episcopacy .was again in power, and that more than 
. two thousand clergymen had been driven from their con- 



1663. gregations because they would not conform. At length, 
two agents were sent to conciliate the king, and to make 
guarded professions of loyalty, as well as to ask permission 
to make, laws against the Quakers. 

Connecticut and Khode Island had both received lib- 
eral charters from Charles, the former obtained principally 
through the influence of the younger Winthrop. Mean- 
time the intolerance of Massachusetts had raised up 
against her a host of enemies, who were continually whis- 
pering their complaints into the royal ear. The alarm was 
presently increased, by information that commissioners 
had been appointed to inquire into the affairs of the 
colony. To j^rovide for the future, the charter was, for 
safe-keeping, secretly given to a committee appointed by 
the General Court. 

When the commissioners came, they outraged the 
prejudices of the people by having the Episcopal service 
jierformed in Boston. The Puritans observed the evening 
of Saturday as holy time ; after the Jewish custom, tliey 
commenced their Sabbath at sunset. As if to annoy 
them, the commissioners habitually spent their Saturday 
evenings in carousals. They also took in hand to redress 
grievances, and invited aU those who had complaints to 
make against the Massachusetts colony, to bring them to 
their knowledge. Rhode Island came with her complaints, 
and the Narraganset chiefs with theirs ; but the General 
Court cut the matter short, by forbidding such proceed- 
ings, as contrary to the charter. 

The laws passed by the mother country for the express 
purpose of crippling the trade of the colonies, could not 
be enforced, and Boston especially attracted attention by 
her prosperous commerce. Industry and temperance in- 
sured the prosperity of the people, a^d they increased in 
riches and 'in. numbers ; they also found means to indulge 



CAUSES OF KING PHILIP'S WAE. 169 

their taste, and began to embellish their villages. Massa- ^^'^f- 

chusetts traded not only with the other colonies, but her 

shij)s were fnund in every sea where commerce invited, 1663. 
and not only England traded with her, but France and 
Spain, Holland and Italy, were competitors for her favors 

For forty years there had been no Indian war in New 
England ; the fate of the Pequods was not forgotten. 
During this time the number of the Indians had not , 

diminished, while that of the colonists had greatly in- 
creased. Their farms had extended in every direction ; 
they gradually absorbed the best lands of the country, 
and crowded the Indians down on the little bays and jieu- 
insulas, on the southern shore of Massachusetts and Rhode 
Island. This policy was openly avowed, as thereby they 
could be more easily watched. 

The Wampanoags and Narragansets were especially 
aggrieved. They could not, without great exertion, obtain 
the means of living ; the animals which they hunted, bad 
been nearly all driven away, and they were forced to de- 
pend upon fish, and of these they could obtain but a 
scanty supply, and they had not learned the art of culti- 
vating the soil, but in a very rude manner. 

Massasoit, the friend who had welcomed the early 
Pilgrims, left two sons, Wamsutta and Metacom. Years 
before their father's death these young men went to Plym- 
outh, where they entered into friendly relations with the 
English, and received from them the names by which we 
know them, Alexander and Philip. They were no ordi- 
nary men, they seemed to have perceived from the first 
the dangers- that threatened their race. If so, they con- 
cealed their imj^ressions, and could never be won over to 
the religion of the English. When Massasoit died, and 
Wamsutta became chief sachem of the Wampanoags, the 
colonists, incited by Uncas, chief of the Mohegans, his 
bitter enemy, became suspicious of him. As he reposed 



170 EISTOET OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

(^AP. at his hunting lodge with eighty of his followers, he was 

. suqirised by Winslow, who had been sent with an armed 

1671. force to bring him to the court at Plymouth. Wamsutta 
thought not of danger ; his arms and those of his warriors 
were outside the lodge and easily secured. When Wins- 
low, with his pistol at his breast, told the astonished chief 
he must go with him, his proud spirit was roused to bitter 
, indignation. His exasperation threw him into a fever so 

violent, that he was unable to proceed far. In conse- 
quence of his illness he was permitted to return home. 
" He died on his way. He was carried home on the shoul- 
ders of men, and borne to his silent grave near Mount 
Hope, in the evening of the day, and in the jirime of his 
life, between lines of sad, quick-minded Indians, who well 
believed him the victim of injustice and ingratitude ; for 
his father had been the ally, not the subject of England, 
and so was he, and the like indignity had not before been 
put upon any sachem."* 

It is natural to suppose that the untimely and tragical 
fate of Wamsutta gave character to the latent hostility 
that existed in the mind of his brother PhilijD toward the 
English race. Soon suspicions fell ujDon him, and at one 
time he was harshly treated, and compelled to give up his 
fire-arms. A praying Indian, who lived with Philip, told 
the colonists that the Wampanoags entertained some de- 
signs against them. There is some doubt as to the truth 
of this story ; however, a short time after this Indian was 
found murdered. Suspicion fell upon three of Philip's 
men, who were apprehended by the authorities of Plym- 
outh, and brought to trial ; they were pronounced guilty 
by a jury composed of English and Indians. The execu- 
tion of these men aroused the slumbering enmity of the 
tribe. The young warriors were clamorous for war, while 
the old men dreaded the contest. Philip, from his supe- 

* Elliott's Hist, of New England. 



10 



THE WAR BEGINS AT SWANZET. 17i 

rior sagacity, foresaw that an attempt to regain their ^^^1" 
lands would end in their own destruction. . 

The colonists could now have warded off the strife by 1675 
conciUating the Indians. No efi'ort was made to soothe 
their wounded feelings, they were treated as " bloody 
heathen," whom it was their duty, as " the chosen -of the 
Lord," to drive out of the land. Avarice, contrary to ex- 
press law, had been for many years furnishing the savages 
with fire-arms, and when the contest came, they were far 
more formidable than the Pequods had been ; to conquer 
them required a great sacrifice of the best blood of the 
colony. 

Though there were settlements more or less extending 
from Boston to Westfield on the west, and to Northfield 
in the Connecticut valley on the borders of Vermont, and 
on the north to Haverhill on the Merrimac, there were 
vast solitudes, whose secret glens and hiding-places were 
known only to the Indians. The spirit of the tribes near 
the settlements was broken by their contact with the 
superior whites, but Philip had under his control seven 
hundred brave warriors, who rejoiced in their freedom, and 
scorned to be the subjects of any white chief beyond the 
great waters. They not only rejected the religion of the 
white man, but despised those tribes who had adopted it. 

In prospect of the threatened war, a day of fasting 
and prayer was observed ; as the people were returning 
from church at Swanzey, they were suddenly attacked by 
a company of Philip's men, and seven or eight persons Jmie 
killed. Phihp shed tears when he heard that blood had 
been shed ; the dreaded ruin of his people was drawing 
near. His tribe, single-handed, entered upon the con- 
test ; the others were either the allies of the English or 
indifferent. He scorned to desert his people, or forfeit his 
character as a warrior, and he threw himself into the con- 
test with the whole energy of his nature. 

The war began within the bounds of the Plymouth 



172 HISTORY OF THE AMEPaCAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP, colony ; but volunteers hastened to its aid from Massa- 
XVII. •' ' 
chusetts. The army invaded the territory of the Wam- 

1675. panoags, and in a few weeks Philip, driven from Mount 

Hope, became a fugitive among the Nipmucks, a tribe 

in the interior of Massachusetts. After the flight of 

Philip and his warriors, the little army went into the 

territory of the Narragansets, and compelled them to 

promise neutrality, and also to deliver up the fugitive 

Indians who should flee to them. They fondly hoped the 

war w^as at an end ; but this was only its beginning. 

The Nipmucks were induced to make common cause 
July witli Philip and his tribe. His warriors, partially armed 
^^' with muskets, prowled round the settlements, ruthlessly 
murdered the whites, and treated their remains with sav- 
age barbarity. The Indians were familiar with the hidden 
paths of the wilderness ; not daring to meet the colonists 
in open conflict, they watched for opportunities of secret 
attack. It was not known when or where the storm 
would burst, and the terror-stricken inhabitants along the 
frontiers fled to the more thickly settled portions. 

Superstition added her terrors. The people saw an 
Indian bow drawn across the heavens ; a scalp appeared 
on the face of the eclipsed moon ; troops of phantom 
horsemen galloped through the air ; the bowlings of the 
wolves were more than usually fearful, and portended some 
terrible ruin ; whizzing bullets were heard in the whist- 
■» ling wind ; the northern lights glowed with an unusual 

glare — the harbinger of the punishment of sin. They be- 
gan to enumerate their sins ; among these were the 
neglect of the training of children, the using of profane 
language, the existence of tippling houses, the want of 
respect for parents, the wearing of long and curled hair 
by the men, the flaunting of gaudy-colored ribbons by 
the women ; and intolerance whispered that they had 
been too lenient to the Quakers. 

The Nipmucks had fifteen hundred wai-riors ; with 



2 



GOFFE THE REGICIDE. 173 

Bome of these Philip hastened to the valley of the Cod- ci'f^j 

necticut, and spread desolation from Springfield, through 

all the settlements to the flirthest town of Nortlifield. I07i>. 

An effort was made to win back the Nipmucks to Aug. 
their old allegiance ; and Captain Hutchinson, son of 
Anne Hutchinson, was sent with twenty men to treat 
with them, hut the whole company was waylaid and mur- 
dered at Brookfield. That jjlace was burned | the people 
fled to the strongest house, which was besieged two days, 
and finally set on fire ; but providentially a storm of rain 
extinguished the flames, and others coming to their assist- 
ance, the Indians were driven off. 

The enemy concerted to make their attacks on the 
same day and hour, in different parts of the country. On 
the Sabbath, which seems to have been chosen by them 
as the day most favorable for an attack, they burned 
Deerfield ; and, as the people were worshipping in church, 
they attacked Hadley. Suddenly there appeared a tall 
and venerable looking man, with a white flowing beard, 
who brandished a sword and encouraged and directed the 
people in the battle. When the savages were driven off, 
he disappeared ; some thought him an angel, specially 
sent by heaven to their aid. It was Goffe, one of the reg- 
icides of whom we have spoken. These regicides had 
been hunted by zealous royalists from one place of refuge 
to another ; now they were sheltered by the good minister, 
John Davenport, of New Haven ; now by friends at Mil- 
ford ; now they had wandered in the pathless wilderness, 
and once they had heard the sound of their enemies' 
horses, as in hot pursuit of them, they crossed the very 
bridge under which they were secreted ; they had rested 
in a cave on the top of " West Rock," New Haven, known 
to this day as the "Judges' Cave," and at this time they 
were living secretly in the house of minister Russell, at 
Hadley. Thus they passed their remaining years ban- 
ished from society and from the occupations of life. 



174 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. A company of chosen young men, " the flower of the 

county of Essex," eighty in number, were engaged in 

1675. hringing the fruits of harvest down from the vicinity of 
Deerfield to Hadley, where it was proposed to establish a 
magazine for provisions. They fell into an ambuscade of 
seven hundred warriors, and, after a desj^erate encounter, 
nearly all perished, at the crossing of a little stream, since 
called the " Bloody Brook." 
Sept. Ere long the flourishing settlement of Hatfield was 

attacked ; and the Indians in the vicinity of Springfield 
were induced to take up arms ; but the people were pre- 
Oct. pared, and repulsed them. Philip returned home, but 
finding Mount Hope in ruins, he went among the Narra- 
gansets. The colonists feared that he would induce them 
to join him, and in self-defence they resolved to treat 
them as enemies. The winter, by stripping the trees and 
bushes of their leaves, had deprived the Indians of their 
hiding places, and the swamps, their favorite sites for 
forts, could be passed over when frozen. A company of 
one thousand men set out to attack their principal fort. 
This place of defence contained about six hundred wig- 
wams and nearly three thousand of the tribe ; warriors 
with their wives and children, and an abundance of pro- 
visions for the winter. They thought themselves secure ; 
they had taken no part in the war. 

Guided by an Indian traitor, the army marched fifteen 
miles through a deep snow, and finally arrived at the Nar- 
raganset fort, situated near where the village of Kingston 
in Rhode Island now stands. Their fort, surrounded by 
a palisade, stood in the midst of a swamp, and was almost 
inaccessible ; it had but one entrance, the narrow passage 
19?' **^ which was along the body of a fallen tree. After a 
severe contest of two hours, the English forced themselves 
within the fort, and applied the torch to the frail and 
combustible wigwams. A thousand warriors were slain, 
and hundreds were made prisoners. Their provisions 



DEATH OF PHILIP. 175 

were all destroyed, and those who escaped were left shel- ™f^^- 

tcrless in the winter storms. They were forced to dig in 

the snow for nuts and acorns to sustain life, and great 1675. 
numbers died of exposure and famine before spring. The 
colonists suffered severely ; they lost six captains, and two 
hundred and fifty men killed and wounded. 

The surviving Narraganset warriors took vengeance ; 
they went from place to place ; they massacred, they 
burned, they destroyed. The settlements in their vicinity 
were abandoned. Though Rhode Island had not joined 
in the war, they made no distinction, and Providence was 
almost destroyed. The now aged Roger Williams felt 
it his duty to act as captain, in defending the town 
he had founded. Bands of warriors swept through and 
through the territory of Plymouth, and the people were 
only safe when within their forts. Towns in different 
parts of the country were attacked at the same time ; the 
enemy seemed to be every where. 

The majority of the Indians continued to fight ; and 1676. 
though they fought without hope, they preferred death to 
submission. Others quarrelled among themselves, charg- 
ing one another with being the cause of the war. At 
length the Nipmucks submitted ; and the tribes on the J»n6. 
Connecticut, having grown weary of the contest, would 
shelter Philip no longer. He now appealed, but in vain, 
to the Mohawks to take up arms. In desperation, he 
determined to return and die at Mount Hope. When 
one of his followers proposed to make peace, the indignant 
chieftain struck him dead at a blow. -It was soon noised 
abroad that Philip had returned to his old home. Benja- 
min Church, the most energetic of the English captains, 
surprised his camp, dispersed his followers, and took pris- 
oner his wife and little son. Philip's spirit was now 
crushed ; he exclaimed : " My heart breaks ; I am ready 
to die ! " A few days after he was shot by a traitor of his Aug. 
own tribe. His orphan boy was now to be disposed of 



176 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. He was taken to Boston ; some were in favor of putting 

. him to doath, others of selling him into slavery. Tho 

1 076. latter prevailed, and the last prince of the Wampanoags, 
the grandson of generous old Massasoit, who had welcomed 
the Pilgrims, and had given them his friendship, was sent 
to toil as a slave under the hurning sun of Bermuda. 

After the close of the war, renewed efforts were made 
to convert the remaining Indians, hut without success 
The hahits of a peojile are not easily changed. If those 
who came in contact with them had set them a Christian 
example, as did Eliot, and the "learned and gentle" 
Mayhew, the effect might have been different. The war 
had completely broken the power of the Indians. The 
more bold emigrated to Canada, and avenged themselves 
in after years, by guiding war parties of the French against 
the English settlements. Some went to the west, and, it 
is said, their descendants are at this day roaming over its 
wide prairies. But the great majority lost their native 
independence, and became still more degraded by marry- 
ing with the negroes. At this day, a few descendants of 
the warriors who once roved over the hills and valleys of 
New England, may be seen lingering in the land of their 
fathers. 

For a time the effect of the war was disastrous ; 
though it lasted but little more than a year, a dozen vil- 
lages were in ashes, and others nearly destroyed. Of the 
private dwellings, a tenth part had been burned, six hun- 
dred of the men of the colony had perished in battle, not 
to mention the women and children ruthlessly massacred. 
Almost every family was in mourning. The expenses of 
the war were great, and for years weighed heavily upon 
the people, while the desolation of the settlements par- 
alyzed their energies. 

No aid came to the sufferers from England ; but be it 
remembered, that a Non-conformist church in Dublin 
sent them five hundred pounds. Instead of aiding them, 



DESPOTISM OF JAMES. 177 

tte spertdthrift Charles devised means to extort money chap 

from tliem by taxing tJieir trade. This led to the estab- 

lishment of a royal custom-house in Boston. To compel 1076. 
the merchants to pay tribute, he threatened to deprive 
them of English passes for their ships in the Mediterra- 
nean, where, without redress, they might be robbed by 
pirates along the Barbary coast ; and he also threatened 
to deprive them of their trade with the southern colonies. 
These threats had little effect upon men who had learned 
to take care of themselves. 

James II., the brother and successor of Charles, was i685. 
bigoted and stubborn ; a Catholic in disguise, he wished 
to establish that form of rehgion, not only in England, 
but in the colonies. The more easily to accomplish this 
object he professed to be very tolerant, and proclaimed 
what he termed an Indulgence, by which persecution for 
religious opinions was henceforth to end. This tolerance 
was only a means to evade the laws, which prohibited the 
introduction of Romish ceremonies and doctrines into the 
Church of England. He became a bitter persecutor ; in 
truth, to comprehend the idea of the rights of conscience 
or of religious freedom, was far beyond the capacity of 
James. That time-serving politician, Joseph Dudley, a 
native of Massachusetts, who, when it was profitable, was 
a zealous advocate of colonial rights, now became an ear- 
nest defender of the prerogative of the king. He was 
appointed the royal president of Massachusetts, until a 
governor should arrive. There could be no free press 
under a Stuart, and Edward Randolph was appointed its 
censor. Randolph disliked the jieople of Massachusetts 
as cordially as they hated him. The commission of Dud- 
ley contained no recognition of an Assembly or Represent- 
atives of the people. James was at a loss to see the use 
of a legislature to make laws, when his wisdom could be 
appealed to for that purpose. Dudley, looked upon as 
the betrayer of his country's liberties, was very unpopu- 
12 



1688. 



178 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. ]ar, while Randolph took pains to have his character aa 

L little respected at court, by representing him as having 

1686. "his fortune to make," and willing to "cringe and bow 
to any thing." 

James had resolved to take away the charters of all 
the colonies and make them royal provinces. Ere long 
came Sir Edmund Andros, as governor of all New Eng- 
land. A fit instrument of a despot, ho was authorized 
to impose taxes, to appoint his own council, to have the 
control of the militia, to prohibit printing, to introduce 
E])iscopacy, and to enforce the laws restricting the trade 
of the colonies. That he might have the means to fulfil 
his instructions, he brought two companies of soldiers — the 
first ever stationed in New England. As a reward for his 
desertion of the people's rights, Dudley was appointed 
Chief Justice, and the busy Randolph Colonial Secretary, 
and William Stoughton, through the influence of Dudley, 
was named one of the council. Now followed a series of 
measures exceedingly annoying to the people. Their 
schools were left to languish. To assemble for delibera- 
tion on any public matter was forbidden ; but it was 
graciously permitted them to vote for their town oQicers. 
The customs of the country were not respected. The 
usual form of administering an oath was that of an appeal 
to heaven by the uplifted hand ; the form now prescribed 
was that of laying the hand on the Bible, which the Pu- 
ritans thought idolatrous, — a relic of popery. Exorbitant 
fees were extorted ; those who held lands were told their 
titles were not valid, because they were oljtained under a 
charter which was now declared to be forfeited ; and when 
an Indian deed was presented, it was decided to be " worth 
no more than the scratch of a bear's paw." No person 
could leave the colony without a pass from the governor. 
No magistrate nor minister — who was deemed merely a 
layman — could unite persons in marriage. The Episcopal 
clergyman at Boston was the only person in all New Eng- 



ANDROS AT HARTFOKD. 179 

laud authorized to perform that ceremony. Episcopacy chap. 

was now fully introduced, and the people required to fur- , 

nish funds to Luild a church for its service. A tax of the 1686. 
same amount was levied upon each person, poor or rich ; 
this some of the towns refused to pay. John Wise, the min- 
ister of Ipswich, was bold to say the tax was unjust, and 
ought not to be paid. For this he was arrested. When 
he spoke of his privileges as an Englishman, he was told 
the only privilege he could claim was not to be sold as a 
slave ; with others, he was fined heavily. When it was 
said that such proceedings would affect the prosperity of 
the country, it was openly avowed that " it was not for 
his majesty's interest that the country should thrive." 
" No man could say that any thing was his own." 

Andros now demanded of Ehode Island her charter, 
but as she did not send it, he went to Providence, and 
breaking the seal of the colony declared its government 
dissolved. He then went with an armed guard to Hart- jgg^^ 
ford, and demanded the charter of the colony of Connec- 
ticut. The Assembly was in session. The members 
received him with outward respect. The discussion of 
the subject was protracted till evening, and when candles 
were lighted, the charter was brought in and laid on the 
table. As the eager Andros reached forth his hand to 
seize the precious document, the lights were suddenly put 
out ; when they were relighted, the charter was gone. 
Captain William Wadsworth had slipped it away and hid 
it in a hollow tree. Andros, foiled and in a rage, resolved, 
charter or no charter, the present government should 
cease, and taking the book of records of the Assemljly, 
he wrote at the end of the last record the word finis. 
The tree in which the charter was hid stood for more than 
a century and a half, and -was visited as an object of his- iSoft 
torical interest. It was known as the Charter Oak. A 
few years since it was blown down in a violent storm. 
Some time before, a lady of Hartford gathered from it an 



b. 



180 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

WIAP. acorn, which she planted. The good citizens of that place 
. obtained from her the young oak, and with appropriate 

1687. ceremonies planted it on the spot where stood the parent 
tree. 

Happily the tyranny of Andres was soon to end. 
James, in his zeal to promote the introduction of the 
Catholic religion, had aroused against him the entire 
English people. They invited William, Prince of Orange, 
the husband of Mary, the eldest daughter of James, to 
take possession of the throne. After finding that his des- 
potic measures and insincerity had lost him his kingdom, 
James fled, and the Prince of Orange, under the title of 
William III., ascended his vacant throne. 

1688. When the news of that great revolution, which estab- 
^^^' lished the constitutional rights of the English people, 

reached Boston, it excited the greatest joy ; now they 
could rid themselves of the tyrant. Andres imprisoned 
the messenger for spreading false news. The trained 
bands soon assembled in arms. The craven and guilty 
governor, bewildered with fear, fled, with his servile coun- 
cil, to a fort in the town. The aged Simon Bradstreet, 
now more than fourscore, who was one of the original emi- 
grants, and had been a magistrate, was urged to assume 
the office of governor. 

A declaration, said to have been written by Cotton 
Mather, was published, maintaining the rights of the peo- 
ple, in which they commit the enterprise to " Him who 
hears the cry of the oppressed." Andros, in the mean 
time, made an effort to escape ; but he and Dudley, with 
the troublesome Eandolph, were speedily lodged in jail. 
Many were clamorous for their punishment, but generous 
forbearance prevailed, and they were sent to England for 
trial. 

Connecticut, paying little respect to the "Finis" of 
Andros, now brought forth her charter from its hidden 
place, and resumed her former government. Plymouth 



THE MEN OF INFLUENCE. 181 

resumed the constitution framed on board the May- ^^^^P' 

Flower, and Ehode Island her charter. The people of 

Massachusetts voted almost unanimously to resume theirs, 1688. 
but a moderate party, consisting of the former magistrates, 
and some of the principal inhabitants, chose rather to 
defer it for the present ; as they hoped to obtain one 
from Wilham, more in accordance with their own views. 

The patriarchs who laid the foundation of the New 
England colonies had nearly all passed away ; their jjlaces 
were filled by those who had not experienced the trials of 
their fathers, biit had learned of them by tradition. The 
Puritans lived in serious times — times that made rugg-ed 
Christians as well as rugged soldiers. They may have 
lacked the gentler graces that adorn those living almost 
two centuries later, and enjoying greater privileges, when 
the combined influence of Christianity, science, and refine- 
ment have produced a more perfect effect. They consci- 
entiously fUled their sphere of duty in the age in which 
they lived, and we honor their memories. 

The influence of their ministers was the influence of 
mind upon mind, enhanced by that implicit trust reposed 
iu moral worth. They were peculiarly the educated class ; 
the people looked up to them as their spiritual instructors. 
They were the friends of education, and wished to elevate 
the children of their flocks by cultivating their minds, 
and training them for usefulness in the world; — what 
higher position for his children could the Puritan desire ? 
In'process of time. New England became more inviting 
to men of education belonging to the professions of law 
and medicine. In some respects, the great influence of 
the ministers gradually diminished, not because of dere 
liction of duty on their part, but because, in temporal 
affairs, especially, the management passed, by degrees, 
into the hands of other men of influence. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

COMMOTION IN NEW YORK.— WITCHCKAFT IN MASSACHUSETTS. 

Leisler acting Governor of New York. — The Old Council refuses to yield. — 
Captain Ingoldsby. — Sloughter Governor. — Bitterness of Parties. — Trial 
and Execution of Leisler and Milbourne. — Death of Sloughter. — Fletcher 
Governor ; he goes to Connecticut. — Yale College. — The Triumph of a 
Free Press. — Witchcraft ; belief in. — Cotton Mather. — The Goodwin 
Children. — Various Persons accused at Salem. — Special Court. — Parris 
as Accuser, and Stoughton as Judge. — Minister Burroughs. — Calefs 
Pamphlet. — Revulsion in Public Sentiment. — Mather's stand in favor 
of Inoculation. 

CHAP. Difficulties with royal governors were by no means con- 

'_ '_ fined to New England. The people of New York were 

1690. ^Iso in commotion, though not so much united, as the 
Dutch had not yet cordially associated in feehng with the 
English. 

James had appointed a Catholic receiver of customs ; 
this annoyed the Protestants, and Nicholson the governor 
108!). was exceedingly unpopular. The military companies went 
' j_ ^ in a body to Jacob Leisler, a respectable and generous- 
hearted merchant, and their senior captain, and urged 
him to take possession of the fort and to assume the man- 
agement of affairs. He consented. Leisler, a Presbyterian 
and a Dutchman, was an enthusiastic admirer of the 
Prince of Orange. The fort and public money were taken, 
and the companies j^ledged themselves to hold the fort 
" for the present Protestant power that rules in England." 
Leisler was to act as commander-in-chief untU orders 
came from King William, to whom a letter was sent giv- 



LEISLEK ACTING GOVERNOR. 183 

ing an account of the seizure of the fort and also of the ^f^.- 

money, which was to be exjiended in building another at 

the lower part of the island, to defend the harbor. 1689. 

As a large majority of the people were in favor of 
Leisler and of the proceedings of the militia, Nicholson, 
the governor, thought best to carry his complaints to 
England. The members of his council, claiming to be 
the true rulers of the province, went to Albany, and de- ^^s. 
nounced Leisler as a " rebel." 

He appointed Milbourne, his son-in-law, secretary. 
Afterward the people at Albany, alarmed on account of 
an expected attack from Canada, asked aid from New 
York ; Milbourne was promptly sent with a body of men 
to their assistance. But the members of the old council 
refused to acknowledge his authority, or to give him the 
command of the fort. To avoid bloodshed he returned, 
leaving them to fight the French as they could. In their 
extremity, the Albanians obtained assistance from Con- 
necticut. Presently came a royal letter, directed to Deo. 
" such as for the time being administer affairs." It con- 
tained a commission for Nicholson as governor. As the 
latter was on his way to England, Leisler injudiciously 
proclaimed himself governor by virtue of the letter, and 
still more imprudently ordered the members of the refrac- 
tory council at Albany to be arrested. Meantime an As- 
sembly was called to provide for the wants of the province. 

The letter sent to the king remained unanswered, but 
suddenly an English ship came into the harbor, having on jggi 
board a Captain Ingoldsby, and a company of soldiers J^"- 
sent by Colonel Henry Sloughter, who had been appointed 
governor. Encouraged by the party opposed to Leisler, 
Ingoldsby demanded the surrender of the fort. He was 
asked his authority ; as he had none to show, the fort 
was not given up. Six weeks elapsed before ■ Sloughter 
made his appearance ; meanwhile, a collision took place 
between the soldiers and some of the people, and blood 



184 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAlf PEOPLE. 

^AP. was shed. The bitterest party spirit prevailed ; the ene- 

mies of Leisler resolved on revenge ; and when he came 

1691 forward to resign his trust to the regularly appointed gov- 
ernor, he was arrested, and with Milbourne taken to prison. 
19 The charge against them was the convenient one of trea- 
son ; their enemies knew that they were as loyal as 
themselves, hut it answered their purpose. Immediately 
a special court was called to try the prisoners. They de- 
nied the right of a court thus constituted to try them, 
and refused to plead, but appealed to the king. They 
were, however, condemned, and sentenced to death by the 
degenerate Dudley, who, driven away by the indignant 
people of Massachusetts, now appeared as Chief Justice 
of New York. 

Slougliter was unwilling to order their execution, and 
he determined to leave "the matter to the king. But their 
blood, and it alone, could satisfy the intense hatred of 
their enemies. To accomplish their end they took advan- 
tage of one of the numerous failings of the governor. 
They gave him a dinner-party ; when overcome by a free 
indulgence in wine, they induced him to sign the death- 
warrant of the unfortunate men. About daylight the 
next morning, lest Sloughter should recover from his stu- 
por and recall the warrant, Leisler and Milbourne were 
hurried from their weeping families to the gallows. It 
was whispered abroad, and although the rain poured in 
torrents, the sympathizing people hastened in multitudes 
May to the place of execution. Said Milbourne, when he saw 
in the crowd one of their enemies, " Robert Livingston, 
I will implead thee for this at the bar of God." The last 
words of Leisler were : " Weep not for us, who are depart- 
ing to our God." Said Milbourne, " I die for the king 
and queen, and for the Protestant religion ; Father, into 
thy hands I commend my spirit." "When the execution 
was over, the people rushed forward to obtain some me- 
morial of their friends — a lock of hair, or a piece of their- 



BENJAMIN FLETCHEK AT HAKTFOKD. 185 

clothing. This judicial murder increased the bitterness ^f^ 

of party animosity. The friends of the victims were the 

advocates of popular rights, in opposition to the royalists. 1691. 
All that could he was done in time to remedy the wrong. 
Their estates were restored to their families, and Parlia- 
ment reversed the attainder under the charge of treason. 
Dudley even opposed this act of justice. Three months 
after this tragedy, delirium tremens ended the life of the 
weak and dissolute Sloughter. It was about this time 
that the " ancient Dutch usages " gave place to the com- 
plete introduction of English laws. 

A year had elapsed, when Benjamin Fletcher came as 1692. 
successor to Sloughter. He was a military officer, arbi- 
trary and avaricious. His sympathies were with the ene- 
mies of Leisler. As New York was on the frontiers "of 1693. 
Canada, all the colonies were expected to contribute to 
her defence. To make this more eifective, an effort was - 
made to put the militia of New Jersey and Connecticut, 
as well as that of New York, under the command of 
Fletcher. Accordingly, he went into Connecticut to en- 
force his authority. To give the command of their militia 
to the governor of another colony, was to sacrifice the 
rights of the -people under the charter. The Assembly 
was in session at Hartford, and the militia engaged in 
training when Fletcher arrived. He had boasted that he 
" would not set foot out of the colony untU he was obeyed." 
When the militia were drawn up, he ordered his secretary 
to read in their hearing his commission. When he com- 
menced to read, the drummers began to beat. " Silence," 
commanded Fletcher. For a moment there was silence, 
and the reading was renewed. " Drum ! drum ! " ordered 
Wadsworth, the same who, some years befoie, hid the 
charter. Fletcher once more ordered silence. The sturdy 
captain, stepping up to him, significantly remarked, " If 
1 am interrupted again I will make daylight shine through 
you." Fletcher thought it best to overlook the insult, 



186 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

'\\^u "^^^ return to New York, without accoinplisliing Lis 

threat. 

161)3. More than half a century before, the Eev. John 

Davenport proposed to found a college in the colony of 
Connecticut, but as Harvard would be affected by the 
establishment of a similar institution, the project was 
postponed. Now, the ministers of the colony met at 
Branford, where each one laid upon the table his gift of 
books, accompanied by the declaration, " I give these 
books for the founding a college in this colony." Forty 
volumes were thus contributed. How little did these good 
men, as they made their humble offerings, anticipate the 
importance and influence of the college of which they 

1701. thus laid the foundation. 

- The following year the General Court granted a char- 
ter. The professed object of the college was to promote 
theological studies in particular, but afterward so modified 
as to admit of "instructing youth in the arts and sci- 
ences, who may be fitted for public employments, both in 
church and civU state." For sixteen years, its sessions 
were held at diflerent places ; then it was permanently 
located at New Haven. A native of the town, Eliliu 
Yale, who had acquired wealth in the East Indies, became 
its benefactor, and in return he has been immortalized in 
its name. 

For forty years succeeding the rule of Fletcher the 
annals of New York are comparatively barren of incident ; 
during that time the province enjoyed the doubtful privi- 
lege of having ten governors, nearly all of whom took 
special care of their own interests and those of their 
friends. The last of this number was the " violent and 
mercenary " WiUiam Cosby, who complained to the Board 
of Trade that he could not manage the " delegates " to 
the Assembly ; — " the example of Boston people " had so 
much infected them. 

The city Qf New York, at this time, contained nearly 



THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. 187 

nine thousand inhabitants. The Weekly Journal, a paper chap. 

recently estabhshed by John Peter Zenger, contained . 

articles condemning the arbitrary acts of the governor 1T32. 
and Assembly, in imposing illegal taxes. This was the 
finst time in the colonies the newspapers had dared to 
criticise political measures. This new enemy of arbitrary 
power must be crushed. Governor Cosby, with the appro- 
bation of the council, ordered the paper to be burned by 
the sheriff, imprisoned the editor, and prosecuted him for 
libel. Zenger employed as counsel two lawyers, and they 
denied the authority of the court, because of the illegal 
appointment of the Chief Justice, Delancy, by Cosby, 
without the consent of the Council. For presenting this 
objection their names were promptly struck from the roll 
of practitioners. This high-handed measure intimidated 
the other lawyers, and deterred them from acting as coun- 
sel for the fearless editor. 1733. 

On the day of trial a venerable man, a stranger to 
nearly all present, took his seat at the bar. The trial 
commenced, and much to the surprise of the court, the 
stranger announced himself as counsel for the defendant. 
It was Andrew Hamilton, the famous Quaker lawyer of 
Philadelphia, and speaker of the Assembly of Pennsyl- 
vania. Hamilton proposed to prove the truth of the 
alleged libel, but Delancy, the judge, in accordance with 
English precedents, refused to admit the plea. Then 
Hamilton with great force appealed to the personal 
knowledge of the jury ;■ — the statements in the paper 
were notoriously true. He showed that the cause was not 
limited to this editor alone ; a principle was involved, 
that affected the liberty of speech and a free press through- 
out the colonies. 

In spite of the charge of the judge to the contrary, 
the jury brought in a verdict of acquittal, which was 
received with rapturous shouts by the peojsle. Thus, for 
the first time, had the press assumed to discuss, and even 



188 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

xvin condemn political measures, and its liberty to do so was 

amply vindicated. This was thirty-seven years before the 

'i'^'i'^- same principle was established in England by the decision 

in the trial for libel brought against the publisher of the 

famous letters of Junius. 

3 681. We have now to relate the story of that sad delusion 

so identified with the early history of the quiet and re- 
spectable town of Salem, in Massachusetts. The belief 
in witchcraft appears to have been almost universal in 
the age of which we write. As Christians were in cove- 
nant with God, so, it was believed, witches were in cove- 
nant with the devU ; that he gave them power to torment 
those whom they hated, by pinching them, pricking them 
with invisible pins, pulling their hair, causing their cattle 
and chickens to die, upsetting their carts, and by many 
other annoyances, equally undignified and disagreeable. 
As Christians had a sacrament or communion, witches 
had a communion, also, at which the devU himself offici- 
ated in the form of a " small black man." He had a book 
in which his disciples signed their names, after which they 
renounced their Christian baptism, and were rebaptizcd, 
or " dipped " by himself. To their places of meeting the 
witches usually rode through the air on broomsticks. 

This delusion, absurd as it seems to us, was in that 
age believed by learned and good men, such as Sir Matthe^ 
Hale, Lord Chief Justice of England ; Kichard Baxter, 
author of the " Saints' Rest ; " and Dr. Isaac Watts, 
whose devotional " Psalms and Hymns " are so familiar 
to the religious world. For this supposed crime many 
had, at different times, been executed in Sweden, Eng- 
land, France, and other countries of Europe. Before the 
excitement at Salem, a few cases in the colony of Massa- 
chusetts had been punished with death. 

As the Bible made mention of witches and sorcerers, — 
to disbelieve in their existence was counted infidelity. 
To disprove such infidelity, Increase Mather, a celebrated 



COTTON MATHER. 189 

clergyman of New England, piiLlished an account of the ™^^ 

cases that had occurred there, and also a description of . 

the manner in which the bewitched persons were afHicted. 1684. 
After this publication, the first case that excited general 
interest was that of a girl named Goodwin. She had ac- 
cused the daughter of an Irish washerwoman of stealing 
some article of clothing. The enraged mother disproved 
the charge, and in addition reproved the false accuser se- 
verely. Soon after, this girl became strangely affected ; 1688. 
her younger brother and sister imitated her " contortions 
and twistings." These children were sometimes dumb, 
then deaf, then blind ; at one time they would bark like 
dogs, at another mew like cats. A physician was called 
in, who gravely decided that they were bewitched, aj they 
had many of the symptoms described in Mather's book. 
The ministers became deeply interested in the subject, 
and five of them held a day of fasting and prayer at the 
house of the Goodwins, when lo ! the youngest child, a 
boy of five years of age, was delivered ! As the children 
asserted that they were bewitched by the Irish washer- 
woman, slie was arrested. The poor creature was fright- 
ened out of her senses, if she had any, for many thought 
she was " crazed in her intellectuals." She was, how- 
ever, tried, convicted and hanged. 

There was at this time at Boston a young clergyman, 
an indefatigable student, remarkable for his memory and 
for the immense amount of verbal knowledge he possessed ; 
he was withal somewhat vain and credulous, and exceed- 
ingly fond of the marvellous ; no theory seems to have 
been more deeply rooted in his mind than a behef in witch- 
craft. Such was Cotton Mather, son of Increase Mather. 
He became deeply interested in the case of the Goodwin 
children, and began to study the subject with renewed 
zeal ; to do so the more perfectly, he took the girl to his 
home. She was cunning, and soon discovered the weak 
points of his character. She told him he was under a 



L90 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP, special protection ; tliat devils, though thej^ trit:d hard, 

, could not enter his study ; that they could not strike 

1688. him ; the blows were warded off by an invisible, friendly 
hand. When he prayed, or read the Bible, she would be 
thrown into convulsions ; while at the same time, she 
read with zest Popish or Quaker books, or the Book of 
Common Prayer. Mather uttered prayers in a variety 
of languages to ascertain if these wicked spirits were 
learned. He discovered that they were skilled in Latin, 
Greek, and Hebrew, but deficient in some Indian tongues. 
He sincerely believed all this, and wrote a book, " a story 
all made np of wonders," to prove the truth of witch- 
craft ; and gave out that, hereafter, if any one should 
deny ^ts existence, he should consider it a personal insult. 
Mather's book was republished in London, with an ap- 
proving preface written by Richard Baxter. This book 
had its influence upon the minds of the people, and pjre- 
pared the way for the sad scenes which followed. 

About four years after the cases just mentioned, two 
young girls, one the niece and the other the daughter of 
Samuel Parris, the minister at Salem village, now Dan- 
vers, began to exhibit the usual signs of being bewitched. 
They seem to have done this at first merely for mischief, 
as they accused no one until compelled. 
!0n2. Between Parris and some of the members of his con- 

gregation there existed much iU-feeling. Now was the 
time to be revenged ! And this " beginner and procurer 
of the sore affliction to Salem village and country," in- 
sisted that his niece should tell who it was that bewitched 
her, for in spite of all the efforts to " deliver " them, the 
children continued to practise their pranks. The niece at 
length accused Rebecca Nurse, a woman of exemplary and 
Christian life ; but one with whom Parris was at variance. 
At his instigation she was hurried off to jail. The next 
Sabbath he announced as his text these words : " Have I 
not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil ? " Imme- 



TRIAL OF WITCHES AT SALEM. 191 

iHately Sarah Cloyce, a sister of the accused, arose and left ^^iK?- 

the church, — in those days, no small oiFence. She too was 

accused and sent to prison. The excitement spread, and 1692 
in a few weeks nearly a hundred were accused and re- 
manded for trial. 

After the people had driven off Andros, Bradstreet 
had still continued to act as governor. A new charter i691. 
was given, under which the governor was to be appointed 
by the crown. Sir William Phipps, a native of New 
England, " an illiterate man, of violent temper, with 
more of energy than ability," was the first governor, and 
William Stoughton the deputy-governor. These both 
obtained their ofiSces through the influence of Increase 
Mather, who was then in England, acting as agent for the 
colony. Stoughton had been the friend of Andros, and a 
member of his council, and, like Dudley, was looked upon 
by the people as their enemy. Of a proud and unforgiv- 
ing temper, devoid of humane feelings, he was self-willed 
and selfish. The people in a recent election had slighted 
him ; they scarcely gave him a vote for the office of 
judge ; this deeply wounded his pride. In his opinions, 
as to spirits and witches, he was an implicit follower of 
Cotton Mather, of whose church he was a member. 

The new governor, bringing with liim the new charter, 
arrived at Boston on the fourteenth of May. The General 1C92. 
Court alone had authority to appoint Special Courts ; but ^^^ 
the governor's first ofiicial act was to appoint one to try 
the witches confined in prison at Salem. The triumph 
of Mather was complete ; he rejoiced that the warfare 
with the spirits of darkness was now to be carried on vig- 
orously, and he " prayed for a good issue." 

The illegal court met, and Parris acted as prosecutor, 
producing some witnesses and keeping back others. The 
prisoners were made to stand with their arms extended, 
lest they should torment their victims. The glance of the 
witch's eye was terrible to the " afilicted ; " for its evil 



192 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, influence tbere was but one remedy ; the touch of the 

XVIII 

accused couH alone remove the charm. Ahigail Williams, 

1692. the niece of Parris, was told to touch one of the prisoners ; 
she made the attempt, but desisted, screaming out, " My 
fingers, they burn, they burn ! " She was an adept in 
testifying ; she had been asked to sign the devil's book by 
the spectre of one of the accused women, and she had 
also been permitted tcr see a witch's sacrament. All this 
was accepted by the court as true and proper evidence. 
If a witness contradicted himself, it was explained by as- 
suming that the evil spirit had imposed ujjon his brain. 
A farmer had a servant, who suddenly became bewitched ; 
his master whipped him, and thus exorcised the devil, 
and had the rashness to say that he could cure any of 
" the afilicted " by the same process. For this he soon 
found himself and wife in prison. Eemarks made by the 
prisoners were often construed to their disadvantage. 
George Burroughs, once a minister at Salem, and of whom 
it is said Parris was envious, had expressed his disbelief in 
witchcraft, and pronounced the whole affair a delusion. 
For this he was arrested as a wizard. On his trial the 
witnesses pretended to be dumb. " Why," asked the 
stern Stoughton of the prisoner, " are these witnesses 
dumb .P " Burroughs believed they were perjuring them- 
selves, and promptly answered, " The devil is in them, I 
suppose." " Ah ! ah ! " said the exulting judge ; " how 
_ is it that he is so loath to have any testimony borne against 
you ? " This decided the case ; Burroughs was condemned. 
From the scaffold he made an address to the people, and 
put his enemies to shame. He did what it was believed 
no witch could do ; he repeated the Lord's Prayer dis- 
tinctly and perfectly. The crowd was strongly impressed 
in his favor ; many believed him innocent, and many 
were moved even to tears, and some seemed disposed to 
rescue him ; but Cotton Mather appeared on horseback, 
and harangued the crowd, maintainintr that Burnniirhp 



REVULSION IN PUBLIC OPINION. 193 

was not a true minister, that he had not been ordained, ™'^'' 

that the fair show he made was no jiroof of his innocence, 

for Satan himself sometimes appeared as an angel of light. 1692. 

Many of the accused confessed they were witches, and 
by that means purchased their lives : and some, to make 
their own safety doubly sure, accused others : thus the 
delusion continued. Then, again, others who had con- 
fessed, repented that they had acknowledged themselves to • 
be what they were not, denied their confession, and died 
with the rest. The accusations were at first made against 
those in the humbler walks of life ; now others were ac- 
cused. Hale, the minister at Beverly, was a believer in 
witchcraft, till his own wife was accused ; then he was 
convinced it was all a delusion. 

Some months elapsed before the General Court held 
its regular session ; in the mean time twenty persons had 
fallen victims, and fifty more were in prison with the same 
fate hanging over them. Now a great revulsion took 
place in public opinion. This was brought about by a 
citizen of Boston, Kobert Calef, who wrote a pamphlet, 
first circulated in manuscript. He exposed the manner 
in which the trials had been conducted, as well as proved 
the absurdity of witchcraft itself Cotton Mather, in his 
reply, sneered at Calef as " a weaver who pretended to 
be a merchant." Calef, not intimidated by this abuse, 
continued to write with great effect, and presently the 
book was published in London. Increase Mathei, the 
President of Harvard College, to avenge his son, had the 
"weaver's" book publicly burned in the college yard. 

In the first case brought before the court, the jury 
promptly brought in a verdict of not guilty. "When news 
came to Salem of the reprieve of those under sentence, 
the fanatical Stoughton, in a ' rage, left the bench, ex- 
claiming, " Who it is that obstructs the course of justice 
I know not ; the Lord have mercy on the country." 

Not long after, the indignant inhabitants of Salem w.):i 
13 



19-i HISTORY OF THE AJIEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, drove Parris from tlieir village. Many of tliose who had 

XVIII. . . . .... 

participated in the delusion, and given their influence in 

1693. favor of extreme measures, deeply repented and publicly 
asked forgiveness of their fellow-citizens. But Cotton 
Mather expressed no regret for the part he had taken, or 
the influence he exerted in increasing the delusion ; his 
vanity never would admit that he could possibly have 
been in error. Instead of being humbled on account of 
the sorrows he had brought upon innocent persons, he la- 
bored to convince the world that, after all, he had not 
been so very active in promoting the delusion. Stoughton 
passed the remainder of his days the same cold, proud, 
and heartless man ; nor did he ever manifest the least 
sorrow, that on such trifling and contradictory evidence, 
he had sentenced to death some of the best of men and 
women. 

It is a pleasure to record that, thirty years after this 
melancholy delusion, Cotton Mather with fearless energy 
advocated the use of inoculation for the prevention of 
1721. small-pox. He had learned that it was successful in Tur- 
key, in arresting or modifying that terrible disease, and 
he persuaded Dr. Boylston to make the experiment. Ma- 
ther stood firm, amid the clamors of the ignorant mob, who 
even threw a lighted grenade filled with combustibles into 
his house, and paraded the streets of Boston, with halters 
in their hands, threatening to hang the inoculators. The 
majority of the physicians opposed inoculation on theo- 
logical grounds, contending, " it was presumptuous for 
men to inflict disease on man, that being the prerogative 
of the Most High." "It was denounced as an infusion of 
malignity into the blood ; a species of poisoning ; an at- 
tempt to thwart God, who had sent the small-pox as a 
punishment for sins, and whose vengeance would thus be 
only provoked the more." Nearly all the ministers were 
in favor of the system, and they replied with arguments 
drawn from medical science. An embittered war of pam- 



INOCULATION IN BOSTON. 195 

pblets ensued. The town autliorities took decided ground ™f^'- 

against the innovation, whUe the General Court passed 

a bill proMbiting tbe practice, but the Council wisely 1721. 
refused to give it their sanction. At length science and 
common sense prevailed, and the inoculists completely 
triumphed. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

MISSIONS AND SETTLEMENTS IN NEW FRANCE. 

The Emigrants few in number. — The Jesuits ; their zeal as Teachers and 
Explorers. — Missions among the Hurons. — Ahasistari. — The Five Na- 
tiong, or Iroquois. — Father Jogues. — The Abenakis ; Dreuilettes. — The 
Dangers of the Missions. — French Settlers at Oswego. — James Mar- 
quette. — The Mississippi. — La Salle ; his Enterprise ; his Failure and 
tragical End. 

CHAP We have already given an account of the discoveries 

^^' made in New France, and the settlements founded under 

1534 the direction of Samuel Champlain. We now intend to 

trace the history of these settlements and missions, from 

that period till the time when the Lilies of France were 

supplanted hy the Banner of St. George. 

The climate offered but few inducements to cultiva- 
tors of the soil, and emigrants came but slowly ; they 
established trading houses, rather than agricultural settle- 
ments. To accumulate wealth their main resource was 
in the peltries of the wilderness, and these could be ob- 
tained only from the Indians, who roamed over the vast 
regions west and north of the lakes. 

A partial knowledge of the country had been obtained 
from a priest. Father Le Caron, the friend and companion 
of Champlain. He had, by groping through the woods, 
and paddling over the waters his birch-bark canoe, pene- 
trated ftxr up the St. Lawrence, explored the south shore 
of Lake Ontario, and even found his way to Lake Huron. 



THE JESUITS. 197 

Three years before the death of Champlain, Louis ^iap. 

XIII. gave a charter to a company, granting them the .: 

control of the valley of the St. Lawrence and all its trib- 1634. 
utaries. An interest was felt for the poor savages, and it 
was resolved to convert them to the religion of Home ; — 
not only convert them, but make them the allies of 
France. Worldly policy had as much influence as reli- 
gious zeal. It was plain, the only way to found a French 
empire in the New World, was by making the native 
tribes subjects, and not by transplanting Frenchmen. 

The missions to the Indians were transferred to the 
supervision of the Jesuits. This order of priests was 
founded expressly to counteract the influence of the 
Reformation under Luther. As the Keformers favored 1534. 
education and the diffusion of general inteUigence, so the 
Jesuit became the advocate of education — provided it was 
under his own control. He resolved to rule the world by 
influencing its rulers ; he would govern by intellectual 
power and the force of opinion, rather than by supersti- 
tious fears. He endeavored to turn the principles of the 
Reformation against itself. His vows enjoined upon him 
perfect obedience to the will of his superior, — to go on 
any mission to which he might be ordered. No clime so 
tleadly that he would not brave its danger ; no people so 
savage that he would not attempt their conversion. 

With their usual energy and zeal, the Jesuits began 
to explore the wilds of New France, and to bring its 
wilder inhabitants under the influence of the Catholic 
faith. To the convert was oflered the privileges of a 
subject of France. From this sprang a social equality, 
friendly relations were established, and intermarriages took 
place between the traders and the Indian women. 

Companies of Hurons, who dwelt on the shores of the 
lake which bears their name, were on a trading expedition 
to Quebec. On their return home the Jesuits Brebeuf 
and Daniel accompanied them. They went up the Ot- 



198 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^HAP- tawa till they came to its largest western branch, thence 

to its head waters, and thence across the wilderness to 

1634. their villages on Georgian hay and Lake Simcoe. The faith 
and zeal of these two men sustained them during their 
toilsome journey of nine hundred miles, and though their 
feet were lacerated and their garments torn, they rejoiced 
in their sufferings. Here in a grove they built, with theii 
own hands, a httle chapel, in which they celebrated the 
ceremonies of their church. The Red Man came to hear 
the morning and evening prayers ; though in a language 
which he could not understand, they seemed to him to be 
addressed to the Great Spirit, whom he himself wor- 
shipped. Six missions were soon established in the villages 
around these lakes and bays. Father Brebeuf spent four 
hours of every morning in private jjrayer and self-flagel- 
lations, the rest of the day in catechizing and teaching. 
Sometimes he would go out into the village, and as he 
passed along would ring his little bell and thus invite the 
grave warriors to a conference, on the mysteries of his 
religion. Thus he labored for fifteen years. 

These teachings had an influence on the susceptible 
heart of the great Huron chief Ahasistari. He professed 
himself a convert and was baptized. . Often as he escaped 
uninjured from the perils of battle, he thought some pow- 
erful spirit watched over him, and now he believed that 
the God whom the white man worshipped was that guar- 
dian spirit. In the first flush of his zeal he exclaimed : 
" Let us strive to make all men Christians." 

Thousands of the sons and daughters of the forest 
listened to instruction, and the story of their willingness 
to hear, when told in France, excited a new interest. The 
king and queen and nobles vied with each other in mani- 
festing their regard by giving encouragement and aid to 
the missionaries, and by presents to the converts. A col- 
lege, to educate men for these missions, was founded at 
Quebec, two years before the founding of Harvard. Two 



THE FIVE NATIONS. 199 

years afterward the Ursuline convent was founded at chap 
Montreal for the education of Indian girls, and three ___ 
young nuns came from France to devote themselves to 1035 
that labor. They were received with demonstrations of 
joy by the Hurons and Algonquins. Montreal was now 
chosen as a more desirable centre for missionary operations. 

The tribes most intelligent and powerfid, most war- 
like and cruel, with whom the colonists came in contact, 
were the Mohawks, or Iroquois, as the French named 
them. They were a confederacy consisting of five nations, 
the Senecas, the Oneidas, the Ouondagas, the Cayugas, 
and the Mohawks — better known to the English by the 
latter name. This confederacy had been formed in ac- 
cordance with the counsels of a great and wise chief, 1539, 
Hiawatha. Their traditions teU of him as having been 
specially guided by the Great Spirit, and that amid strains 
of unearthly music, he ascended to heaven in a snow- 
white canoe. They inhabited that beautiful and fertile 
region in Central New York, where we find the lakes and 
rivers still bearing their names. 

Their territory lay on the south shore of Lake Ontario, 
and extended to the head-waters of the streams which 
flow into the Chesapeake and Delaware bays, and also to 
the sources of the Ohio. These streams they used as 
highways in their war incursions. They pushed their con- 
quests ■ up the lakes and down the St. Lawrence, and 
northward almost to the frozen resrions around Hudson's 
bay. They professed to hold many of the tribes of New 
England as tributary, and extended their influence to the 
extreme east. They made incursions down the Ohio 
against the Shawnees, whom they drove to the Carolinas. 
They exercised dominion over the IlHnois and the Miamis. 
They were the inveterate enemies of the Hui'ons, and a 
terror to the French settlements — especially were they 
hostile to the missions. In vain the Jesuits strove to 
teach them ; French influence could never penetrate 



200 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, south of Ontario. The Mohawks closely watched the 
^^_ passes of the St. Lawrence, and the intercourse between 
1035. the missionaries stationed on the distant lakes and their 
head-quarters at Montreal was interrupted, unless they 
travelled the toilsome route by the Ottawa and the wil- 
derness beyond. 
1642. An expedition from the lakes had slipped through to 

Quebec, and now it endeavored to return. As the fleet 
approached the narrows, suddenly the Mohawks attacked 
it ; most of the Frenchmen and Hurons made for the op- 
posite shore. Some were taken prisoners, among whom 
was Father Jogues. The noble Ahasistari, from his 
hiding-place, saw his teacher was a prisoner ; he knew 
that he would be tortured to death, and he hastened to 
him : " My brother," said he, " I made oath to thee, that 
I would share thy fortune, whether death or life ; here I 
am to keep my vow." He received absolution at the 
hands of Jogues, and met death at the stake in a manner 
becoming a great warrior and a faithful convert. 

Father Jogues was taken from place to place ; in each 
village he was tortured and compelled to run the gauntlet. 
His fellow-priest, Goupil, was seen to make the sign of 
the cross on the forehead of an infant, as he secretly bap- 
tized it. The Indians thought it a charm to kill their 
children, and instantly a tomahawk was buried in the 
poor priest's head. The Dutch made great eiforts, but 
in vain, to ransom Jogues, but after some months of cap- 
tivity he made his escape to Fort Orange, where he was 
gladly received and treated with great kindness by the 
Dominie Megapolensis. Jogues went to France, but in a 
few years he was again among his tormentors as a messen- 
ger of the gospel ; ere long a blow from a savage ended 
his life. A similar fate was experienced by others. Father 
Bressani was driven from hamlet to hamlet, sometimes 
scourged l)y all tlie inhabitants, and tortured in every pos- 



INDIAN MISSIONS. 201 

sible form which savage ingenuity could invent, — yet he ^^^ 
survived, and was at last ransomed by the Dutch. 

The Abenakis of Maine sent messengers to Montreal 1642. 
asldng missionaries. They were granted, and Father 
Dreuilettes made his way across the wilderness to the 
Penobscot, and a few miles above its mouth established a 
mission. The Indians came fo him in great numbers. 
He became as one of themselves, he hunted, he fished, he 
taught among them, and won their confidence. He gave 
a favorable report of the place, and the disposition of the 
tribes, and a permanent Jesuit mission was there estab- 
lished. On one occasion Father Dreuilettes visited the 
Apostle Eliot at Eoxbury. The noble and benevolent 
work in which they were engaged, served in the minds of 
these good men to soften the asperities existing between 
the Catholic and the Puritan, and they bid each otlier 
God sjjeed. 

At this time there were sixty or seventy devoted mis- 1046 
sionaries among the tribes extending from Lake Superior 
to Nova Scotia. But they did not elevate the character 
of the Indian ; he never learned to tiU the soil, nor to 
dwell in a fixed abode ; he was still a rover in the wide, 
free forest, Uving by the chase. The Abenakis, like the 
Hurons, were willing to receive religious instructions ; they 
learned to chant matins and vespers, they loved those 
who taught them. It is not for us to say how many of 
them received into their hearts a new faith. 

The continued incursions of the ferocious Mohawks 
kept these missions in peril. Suddenly one morning they 
attacked the mission of St. Joseph on Lake Simcoe, 
founded, as we have seen, by Brebeuf and Daniel. The 
time chosen was when the warriors were on a hunting ex- 
cursion, and the helpless old men, women, and children 
fell victims to savage treachery. The aged priest Daniel, 
at the first war-cry, hastened to give absolution to all the io4S, 
converts he could reach, and then calmly advanced from 



202 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAX PEOPLE. 

t'HAi'- the chapel in the face of the murderers. He fell pierced 

with many arrows. These marauding expeditions broke 

1648. up nearly all the missions in Upper Canada. The Hu- 
rons were scattered, and their country became a hunting- 
ground for their inveterate enemies. 

Many of the Huron converts were taken prisoners and 
adopted into the tribes of the Five Nations. Some years 
1061. after, when a treaty was made between those nations and 
the French, the presence of these converts excited hopes 
that they would receive Jesuit teachers. A mission was 
established among the Onondagas, and Oswego, their jjrin- 
cipal village, was chosen for the station. In a year or 
two missionaries were laboring among the other tribes of 
the confederacy. But the French, \vho had an eye to se- 
curing that fertile region, sent fifty colonists, who began 
a settlement at the mouth of tlie Oswego. The jealousy 
of the Indians was excited ; they compelled the colonists 
to leave their country, and with them drove away the 
missionaries. Thus ended the attempts of the French to 
possess the soil of New York. 

The zeal of the Jesuits was not diminished by these 
untoward misfortunes ; they still continued to prosecute 
their labors among the tribes who would receive them. 
Away beyond Lake Superior one of their numlier lost his 
way in the woods and jierished, and the wild Sioux kept 
his cassock as an amulet. Into that same region the un- 
daunted Father Allouez penetrated ; there, at the largest 
town of the Chippewas, he found a council of the chiefs 
of many diflerent tribes. They were debating whether 
they should take up arms against the powerful and war- 
like Sioux. He exhorted them to peace, and urged them 
1666 to join in alliance with the French against the Iroquois ; 
he also promised them trade, and the protection of the 
great king of the French. Then he heard for the first 
time of the land of the Illinois, where there were no trees, 
but vast plains covered with long grass, on which grazed 



JAUE3 MABQUETTE. 203 

innumerable herds of buffalo and deer. He heard of the '^^^• 

wild rice, and of the fertile lands which produced an 

abundance of maize, a^d of regions where copper was ob- 1669. 
tained, — the mines so famous in our own day. He learned, 
too, of the great river ret farther west, which flowed 
toward the south, whither, his informants could not teU. 
After a sojourn of two years Allouez returned to Quebec, 
to implore aid in establishing missions in that hopeful 
field. He stayed only to make known his request ; in two 
days, he was on his way back to his field of labor, accom- 
panied by only one companion. 

The next year came from France another company of 
priests, among whom was James Marquette, who repaired 
immediately to the missions on the distant lakes. Ac- 
companied by a priest named Joliet, and five French 
boatmen, with some Indians as guides and interpreters, 
Marquette set out to find the great river, of which he had 
heard so much. The company passed up the Fox river 
in two birch-bark canoes ; they carried them across the 
portage to the banks of the "Wisconsin, down which they 
floated, till at length their eyes were gratified by the sight 
of the " Father of Waters." 

They coast along its shores, lined with primeval for- 
ests, swarming with all kinds of game ; the prairies redo- 
lent with wild flowers ; — all around them is a waste of 
grandeur and of beauty. After floating one hundred and 
eighty miles they meet with signs of human beings. They 
land, and find, a few nules distant, an Indian village ; here 
they are welcomed by a people who speak the language 
of their guides. They are told that the great river ex- 
tends to the far south, where the heat is deadly, and that 
the great monsters of the river destroy both men and 
canoes. 

Nothing daunted they pass on, and ere long they reach 
the place where the turbid and rapid Missouri plimges 
into the tranquil and clear Mississippi. " When I return," 



1670 



204 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

ciJAP. savB Marquette, " I will ascend that river and pass beyond 

its head-waters and proclaim the gospel." Further on 

1670. they see a stream flowing from th§ north-east ; — it is the 
Ohio, of which the Iroquois have told them. We can 
imagine Marquette, noticing the fertility of the soU, 
looking with awe upon the dark and impenetrable forests, 
and hoping that in future ages these shores would be the 
homes of many millions of civilized and Christian men. 

As they went on they approached a warmer climate ; 
and now they were sure that the great river flowed into 
the Gulf of Mexico, and not into that of California, as 
had been supposed. They met with Indians who showed 
them tools of European manufacture ; obtained either 
from the English of Virginia or from the Spaniards fur- 
ther south. It was deemed prudent to return, as they 
might fall into the hands of the latter, and thus be de- 
prived of the privilege of making known their discovery. 
At the mouth of the Arkansas they began the toilsome 
labor of paddling their canoes up the stream down which 
they had so easily floated. They reached the mouth of the 
Illinois ; thinking it would lead them to the lakes, they 
passed up that river to its head-waters, and thence across 
to Lake Michigan. 

Joliet immediately set out to carry the news of the 
discovery to Quebec. Marquette was desirous to begin 
his work, and he chose to remain in the humble station of 
a missionary in the wilderness. One day he retired to his 
private devotions, at a simple altar he had erected in a 
grove. An hour afterward he was found kneeling beside 
it ; his prayers and his labors for the good of the poor In- 
dian were ended ; — in that hour of quiet retirement his 
spirit had passed away. 

Among the adventurers who came to Canada to seek 
their fortunes, was Kobert Cavalier de la Salle, a young 
man who had been educated as a Jesuit, but had re- 
nounced the order. A large domain at the outlet of Lake 



ENTEKPKISE OF LA SALLE LOUISIANA. 205 

Ontario was granted Lira on condition that he would main- 9?^^.f 

tain Fort Frontenac, now Kingston. Bnt his main oliject 

was to obtain the entire trade of the Iroquois. The news 1675 
of the discovery of the great river inflamed his ardent mind 
with a desire to make settlements on its banks, and thus 
secure its vast valley for his king. Leaving his lands and 
his herds, he sailed forFi-ance, and there obtained a favora- ie77. 
ble grant of privileges. He returned, passed up to Lake 
Erie, at the foot of which he built a vessel of sixty tons, in 
which, w ith a company of sailors, hunters, and priests, he 
passed through the straits to the upper lakes, and an- 
chored in Green Bay. There, lading his ship with a cargo ^gy^ 
of precious furs, he sent her to Niagara, with orders to Aug. 
return as soon as possible with supjjlies. Meanwhile he 
passed over into the valley of the Illinois, and on a blufi" 
by the river side, near where Peoria now stands, built a 
fort, and waited for his ship ; but he waited in vain ; she 
was wrecked on the voyage. 

After three years of toils, wanderings in the wilder- 
ness, and voyages to France, during which he experienced 
disappointments that would have broken the spirit of an 
ordinary man, we find him once more on the banks of the 
Illinois. "Now he built a barge, on board of which, with 1682. 
his companions, he floate'd down to the Mississippi, and April 
thence to the Gulf Thus were his hopes, after so much 
toil and sacrifice, realized. He had triumphantly traced 
the mighty stream to its mouth. He remained only to 
take possession of the country in the name of his sovereign, 
liouis XIV., in honor of whom he named it Louisiana. 

La Salle returned to Quebec, and immediately sa.iled 
for France. He desired to carry into effect his great de- 
sign of planting a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. 
The enterprise was looked upon with favor by both the 
French people and the king. He was furnished with an 
armed frigate and three other vessels, and two hundred 1684 
and eighty persons to form a colony. One hundred of 



206 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, these were soldiers ; of the remainder, some were volun- 

XIX 

'_ teers, some mechanics, and some priests. Unfortunately, 

1084. the command of the ships was given to Beaujeu, a man 
as ignorant as he was self-willed and conceited. After 
surmounting many difficulties, they entered the Gulf of 
Mexico, but missed the mouth of the Mississippi. La 
1685. Salle soon discovered the error, but the stubborn Beaujeu, 
deaf to reason, sailed on directly west, till fortunately ar- 
rested by the eastern shore of Texas. La Salle deter- 
mined to disembark and seek by land the mouth of the 
great river. The careless pilot ran the stoi-e-ship on the 
breakers ; suddenly a storm arose, and ^ery little was saved 
of the abundance which Louis had provided for the enter- 
prise. It is said that he gave more to aid this one colony 
than the English sovereigns combined gave to all theirs in 
North America. 

As the ships were about to leave them on that desolate 
shore, many became discouraged, and returned home. 
The waters in the vicinity abounded in fish, and the for- 
ests in game, and with a mild climate and productive soil, 
there was no danger from starvation. A fort was built in 
a suitable place ; the trees of a grove three miles distant 
furnished the material, which they dragged across the 
prairie. La Salle explored the surrounding country, but 
sought in vain for the Mississippi. On his return to the 
fort, he was grieved to find his colony reduced to forty per- 
sons, and they disheartened and mutinous. He did not 
despair ; he would yet accomjolish the darling object of his 
ambition ; he would thread his way through the wilder- 
ness to Canada, and induce colonists to join him. With 
f^^' a company of sixteen men he commenced the journey ; 
they travelled two months across the prairies west of the 
Mississippi ; but the hopes that had cheered his heart 
amidst hardships and disappointments were never to be 
realized. Two of his men, watching their opportunity, 
murdered him. Thus perished Kobert Cavalier de la 



DEATH OF LA SALLE. 20V 

Salle, assassinated in the wilderness by liis own country- '^^j^''- 

men. He was the first to fully appreciate the importance , 

of securing to France the two great valleys of this conti- 1687. 
nent. His name will ever be associated with his unsuc- 
cessful enterprise, and his tragical fate will ever excite a 
feeling of sympathy. Retribvition was not long delayed ; 
his murderers, grasping at spoils, became involved in a 
quarrel with their companions, and both perished by the 
hand of violence. 

The remainder of the company came upon a tributary 
of the Mississippi, down which they passed to its mouth, 
where their eyes were greeted by a cross, and the arms of 
France engraved upon a tree. This had been done by 
Tonti, a friend of La Salle, who had descended from the 
Illinois, but in despair of seeing him had returned. The 
colony of Texas perished without leaving a memento of its 
existence. 



CHAPTEE XX. 

MARAUDING EXPEDITIONS; SETTLEMENT OF LOUISIANA ; CAPTURE 
OF LOUISBURG. 

Mohawks hostile to the French. — Dover attacked ; Major Wahhon. — Sche- 
nectady captured and burned. — The inhuman Frontenac. — Tlie Coloni.sts 
act for themselves.- — Invasion of Canada. — Settlements in Maine aban- 
doned. — Heroism of Hannah Dustin. — Deerfield taken ; Eunice Wil- 
liams. — P'lbberville plants a Colony on thePascagoula. — Trading Post.s 
on the Illinois and the Mississippi. — Tlie Choctaws; the Natchez; at- 
tempts to subdue the Chickasaws, — King George's War. — Capture of 
Louisburg. — The English Ministry alarmed. — Jonathan Edwards. — The 
" Great Revival." — Princeton College. 

CHAP. Peace had continued for some time between the Five Na- 
^^1_ tions and the French, but now the former were suspicious 
1685. of the expeditions of La Salle. James II. had instructed 
DoDgan, the Catholic governor of New York, to conciliate 
the French, to influence the Mohawks to receive Jesuit 
missionaries, and to quietly introduce the Catholic religion 
into the colon}-. But Dongan felt more interest in the 
fur trade, which the French seemed to be monopolizing, 
than in Jesuit missions among the Mohawks, and he 
rather encouraged the latter iu their hostility. An act of 
treachery increased this feeling. Some of their chiefs, 
who were enticed to enter Fort Frontenac, were seized and 
forcibly carried to France, and there made slaves. 

When the indignant people of England drove the 

bigoted James from his throne and invited William of 

1688. Orange to fill it, Louis XIV. took up the quarrel in behalf 

of James, or of legitimacy, as he termed it. He believed 



DOVER BURNED— MAJOR WALDRON. 209 

in the divine right of kings to rule, and denied the right '^^^''■ 

of a jjeople to change their form of government. Louis 

had for years greatlj' abused his power, and all Europe had 1688. 
suffered from his rapacity. Beligious feeling exerted its 
influence in giving character to the war, and Protestant 
Holland joined heart and hand with Protestant England 
in opposing Catholic France. 

Though the colonies were thus involved in war by the 
mother countries, they had different ends in view. The 
New Engianders had an eye to the fisheries and the pro- 
tection of their northern frontiers ; the French wished to 
extend their influence over the valleys of the St. Lawrence 
and the Mississippi, and to monopolize the fisheries as well 
as the fur-trade. The latter object could be obtained only 
by the aid of the Indians, and they were untiring in their 
efforts to make them friends. They could never conciliate 
the Mohawks, nor induce them to join in an invasion of 
New York. On the contrary, fifteen hundred of them 
suddenly appeared before Montreal, and in a few days cap- 
tured that place, and committed horrible outrages upon 
the people. 

Thus stood matters when Frontenac, for the second 1689. 
time, appeared as governor of New France. To make the 
savages respect him as a warrior, he set on foot a series of 
incursions against the English colonies. The eastern In- 
dians were incited to attack Dover in New Hampshire ; — 
incited by the French, and also by a cherished desire for 
revenge. There, at the head of the garrison, was that 
Major Waldron who, thirteen years before, during King 
Philip's war, had treacherously seized two hundred of 
their friends, who came to him to treat of peace. He had 
proposed to these unsuspecting Indians a mock fight by 
way of entertainment ; when their guns were all discharged 
he made them prisoners and sent them to Boston. Some 
of them were hanged, and others sold into slavery. The 
Indians in their turn employed stratagem and treachery. 
U 



210 HISTOEY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Two squaws came to Dover ; they asked of tbe aged 

Waldron, now fourscore, a night's lodging. In the, night 

1C89. they arose, Tinbarrcd tbe gates, and let in their friends, 
who lay in ambush. Their hour for vengeance had come ; 
they made the pangs of death as bitter as possible to the 
brave old Waldron ; bis white hairs claimed from them no 
pity. In derision, they placed him in a cbHir on a table. 
and scored his body with gashes equal in number to their 
friends he had betrayed ; they jeeringly asked him, " Who 
will judge Indians now .? Who will hang our brothers ? 
Will the pale-faced Waldron give us life for life ? " ' 
They burned all the houses, murdered nearly half the in- 
habitants, and carried the remainder into captivity. 

This was only the beginning of a series of horrors 
inflicted upon the frontier towns. The inhabitants of 
Schenectady, as they slept in fancied security, were star- 
tled at midnight by the terrible war-whoop of the savage, 
— the harbinger of untold horrors. The enemy found easy 
1090. access, as the gates of the palisades were open. The 
''"*'''• houses were set on fire, more than sixty persons were 
killed, and many helpless women and children were carried 
into captivity. A few escaped and fled half clad through 
the snow to Albany. This attack was made by a party 
of French and Indians from Montreal, who had toiled for 
twenty-two days through the snows of winter, breaking 
the track with snow-shoos, and using, when they could, 
the frozen streams as a pathway. At Salmon Falls, on 
the Piscataqua, and at Casco, similar scenes were enacted. 
•Such were the means the inhuman Frontenac, now 
almost fourscore, took to inspire terror in tbe minds of the 
English colonists, and to acquire the name of a great war- 
rior among the Indians, — they would follow none but a 
successful leader. Among the early Jesuit missionaries 
who tau'ght the Indians of New France, there were un- 



■'o 



'New England History, C. W. Elliott. 



EXPEDITIONS AGAINST CANADA. 211 

doubtedlj' many good men The priests of that generation "^nAP. 

had passed away, and others had taken their places ; 

these incited the recently converted savage, not to prac- 1690. 
tise Christian charity and love, but to pillage and murder 
the heretical English colonist. 

King William was busy in maintaining his own cause 
in England, and left the colonists to defend themselves. 
Massachusetts proposed that they should combine, and re- 
move the cause of their trouble by conquering Canada. 
Commissioners from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New 
York inet to deliberate on what course to pursue. They 
resolved to invade that province from New York, by way 
of Lake Champlain, and from Massachusetts by way of the 
St. Lawrence. The exj^edition from New York failed. 
Colonel Peter Schuyler led the advance with a company 
of Mohawks, but the ever-watchful Frontenac was pre- 
pared ; his Indian allies flocked in crowds to aid him in 
defending Montreal. The Mohawks were repulsed and 
could not recover their position, as the army sent to sup- 
port them was compelled to stop short ; the small-pox 
broke out among the soldiers, and they were in want of 
provisions. 

Meantime, the fleet of thirty-two vessels, and two 
thousand men, which had sailed from Boston, was endeav- 
oring to find its way up the St. Lawrence. It was under 
the command of Sir William Phipps, to whose inconljje- 
tency may be attributed the failure of the enterprise. An 
Indian runner cut across the woods from Piscataqua, and 
in twelve days brought the news of the intended attack 
to the French. Frontenac hastened to Quebec, where he 
arrived three days before' the fleet. When it came in 
sight he was prepared to make a vigorous defence. A 
party landed, but after some skirmishing the enterprise 
was abandoned. While returning, the men suffered much 
from sickness, and storms disabled the fleet. The disap- 
pointment of the people of Massachusetts was very great ; 



212 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 

OHAP. many lives had been lost, and the colony was laden with 
XX. ■' ' 

delit. 

1600 The Eastern Indians, in the mean time, were held in 

check by Captain Church, celebrated in King Philip's 
war. At one time, he so for forgot himself as to put to 
death his prisoners, some of whom were women and chil- 
dren. Such cruelty was inexcusable ; and it was avenged 
by the savages with tenfold fury. Nearly all the settle- 
ments of what is now Maine were destroyed or abandoned. 
The enemy were continually prowling around the farms, 
watching an opportunity to shoot the men at their work. 
All went armed, and even the women learned to handle 
effectively the musket and the rifle. It was a great in- 
ducement for the Indians to go on these marauding expe- 
ditions, because they could sell for slaves to the French 
of Canada the women and children they took prisonei'S. 

Peace was at length made with the Abenakis, or East- 
ern Indians, and there was a lull in the storm of desola- 
tion. It lasted but a year, the Indians broke the treaty. 
They were incited to this by their teachers, two Jesuits, 
Thury and Bigot, who even took pride in their atrocious 
work. 

1094 Heroic deeds were performed by men and women. A 

small band of Indians attacked the house of a farmer 
named Dustin, near Haverhill. When in the fields he 
heard the war-whoop and the cry of distress. He hastened 
to the rescue, met his children, and threw himself be- 
tween them and their pursuers, whom he held at bay by 
well-directed shots till the children were in a place of 
safety. His house was burned ; a child only a few days 
old was dashed against a tree, and his wife, Hannah Dus- 
tin, and her nurse, were carried away captive. A toilsome 
march brought them to an island in the Merrimac, just 
above Concord, where their captors lived. There Mrs. 
Dustin, with the nurse and a boy, also a captive, planned 
an escape. She wished revenge, as well as to be secure 



DEERFIELD DESTROYED EUNICE WILLIAMS. 213 

from pursuit. The Indians, twelve in number, were asleep. *^^Ai' 

She arose, assigned to each of her companions whom to 

strilie ; their hands were steady and their hearts firm ; 1694. 
they struck for their lives. Ten Indians were killed, one 
woman was wounded, and a child was purposely saved. 
The heroic woman wished to preserve a trophy of the deed, 
and she scalped the dead. Then in a canoe the three 
floated down the Merrimac to Haverhill, much to the 
astonishment of their friends, who had given them up for 
lost. Such were the toils and suiFerings, and such the 
heroism of the mothers in those days. 

The friendly Mohawks had intimated to the inhabi- 
tants of Deerfield, in the valley of the Connecticut, that 
the enemy was plotting their destruction. Tlie anxiety 
of the people was very great, and they resolved during the 
winter to keep a strict watch ; sentinels were placed every 
night. 

On an intensely cold night in February a company of 1704. 
two hundred Frenchmen, and one hundred and forty In- 
dians, lay in ambush, waiting a favorable moment to 
spring upon their victims. Under the command of Hertel 
de Eouville, they had come all the way from Canada, on 
the crust of a deep snow, with the aid of snow-shoes. The 
sentinels, unconscious of danger, retired at dawn of day. 
The snow had drifted as high as the palisades, thus ena- 
bling the party to pass within the inclosure, which con- 
sisted of twenty acres. The terrible war-cry startled the 
inhabitants, the houses were set on fire, and forty-seven 
persons were ruthlessly murdered ; one hundred and 
twelve were taken captive, among whom were the minister 
Williams, his wife, and five children. No pen can de- 
scrilie the sufferings of the captives on that dreary winter's 
march, driven, as they were, by relentless Frenchmen and 
savages. Eunice Williams, the wife, drew consolation 
from her Bible, which she was permitted to read when 
the party stopped for the night. Her strength soon failed ; 



214 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^'HAP. her husband cheered her by ijointing her to the " house 

not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." " The 

1704. mother's heart rose to her lips, as she commended her five 
captive children, under God, to their father's care, and 
then one blow of the tomahawk ended her sorrows." This 
family, with the exception of one daughter, seven years of 
age, were afterward ransomed, and returned home. 

Many years after this, there appeared at Deerfield a 
white woman wearing the Indian garb ; she was the lost 
daughter of Eunice Williams, and now a Catholic, and 
the wife of an Indian chief No entreaties could influence 
her to remain with her civilized relatives ; she chose to re- 
turn and end her days with her own children. 

Humanity shudders at the recital of the horrors that 
marked those days of savage warfare. Some of the Indians 
even refused to engage any more in thus murdering the 
English colonists ; but the infamous Hertel, with the ap- 
probation of Vaudreuil, then governor of Canada, induced 
a party to accompany him on a foray. Why repeat the 
story of the fiendish work, by which the little village of 
Haverhill, containing about thirty log-cabins, was burned, 
and all the inhabitants either murdered or taken captive. 
1(08. u -jjy heart swells with indignation," wrote Colonel Peter 
Schuyler, of New York, to Vaudreuil, " when I think that 
a war between Christian princes, is degenerating into a 
savage and a boundless butchery ; I hold it my duty to- 
ward God and my neighbor, to prevent, if possible, these 
barbarous and heathen cruelties." This reproof was un- 
heeded ; the cruelties continued. 

Under the feelings excited by such outrages, can we 
think it strang-e that the colonists resolved to hunt the 
Indians like wild beasts, and ofiered a bounty for their 
scalps ? or that the hostility against the French Jesuit 
should have thrown suspicion upon the Catholic of Mary- 
land, who about this time was disfranchised ? or that even 



LEMOINE D'iBBERVILLE. 215 

in liberal Rhode Island, he should have been deprived ^^^^ 
of the privilege of becoming a freeman ? 

With renewed energy the French began to press for- 1708, 
ward their great design of uniting, by means of trading 
posts and missions, the region of the Lakes and the valley 
of the Mississippi. The Spaniards had possession of the 
territory on the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, 
while they claimed the entire regions lying around that 
expanse of water. 

The energetic mind of Lemoine d'Ibberville conceived 
a plan for planting a colony at the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi. He was a native of Canada, and had, on many 
occasions, distinguished himself by his talents and great 
courage. Hopes were entertained of his success. The 
expedition, consisting of four vessels and nearly two hun- 
dred colonists, among whom were some women and chil- 
dren, sailed from Canada for the mouth of the Mississippi. ic99 
D'Ibberville entered the Gulf and approached the north 
shore, landed at the mouth of the river Pascagoula, and 
with two barges and forty-eight men went to seek the 
great river. He found it by following up a current of 
muddy waters, in which were many floating trees. He 
passed up the stream to the mouth of Red River, where * 
he was surprised to receive a letter dated fourteen years 
before. It was from Tonti ; he had left it with the In- 
dians for La Salle ; they had preserved it carefully, and 
gave it to the first Frenchman who visited them. 

As the shores of the Mississippi in that region are 
marshy, it was thought best to form a settlement on the 
Gxilf at the mouth of the Pascagorda. This was the first 
colony planted within the limits of the present State of 
Mississippi. D'Ibberville sailed for France to obtain sup- 
plies and more colonists, leaving one of his brothers, Sau- 
ville, to act as governor, and the other, Bienville, to 
engage in exploring the country and river. 

Some fifty miles up the Mississippi Bienville met an 



210 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

*^xx^" ■^^'^o^''^^ ^^P ssnt on the same errand. Seventy years 

before, Charles I. had given to Sir Robert Heath a grant 

1630. of Carolina, which as usual was to extend to the Pacific. 
This worthless grant Coxe, a London physician, had pur- 
chased, and to him belonged this vessel. 

From the time of La Salle the Jesuits had been busy 
ingratiating themselves with the tribes along the shores of 
the Mississippi, and under their direction trading posts 
were established, at various points, to the mouth of the 
Illinois, and up that river to the Lakes. 
1700. The following year D'Ibberville returned with two 

ships and sixty colonists, and the aged Tonti had just ar- 
rived from the Illinois. AvaiKng himself of his counsel, 
D'Ibberville ascended the river four hundred miles, and on 
a bluff built a fort, which, in honor of the Duchess of 
Pontchartrain, was called EosaHe. These settlements lan- 
guished for twenty years ; the colonists were mere hire- 
lings, unfitted for their work. The whole number of 
emigrants for ten years did not exceed two hundred per- 
sons. Instead of cultivating the soil, and nwiking their 
homes comfortable, many went to the far west seeking for 
gold, and others to the north-west on the same errand, 
while fevers and other diseases were doing the work of 
death. Meantime Mobile became the centre of French 
influence in the south. 

Once more a special eifort was made to occupy the 
territory, and a monopoly of trade was granted to Arthur 
I7H-. Crozart, who was to send every year two ships laden with 
merchandise and emigrants, and also a cargo of slaves from 
Africa. The French government was to appropriate an- 
nually about ten thousand dollars to defray the expense 
of forts and necessary protection. 

A trading house was established uj) the Red River at 
Natchitoches, and one up the Alabama near the site of 
Montgomery ; Fort Rosalie became a centre of trade, and 



FOUNDING OF NEW ORLEANS. 217 

the germ of the present city of Natchez — the oldest town chap 
on the Mississippi. 

Bienville put the convicts to work on a cane-brake to 1716. 
remove the trees and shrubs " from a savage and desert 
place," and built a few huts. Such were the feeble begin- 
nings of New Orleans, which it was prophesied would 
yet become " a ricb city, the metropolis of a great colony." 
Still the colony did not prosper ; instead of obtaining 
their suj>plies from that fruitful region, they were depend- 
ent on Fi-ance and St. Domingo. Labor was irksome to 
the convicts and vagabonds, and the overflowings of the 
river, and the unhealthiness of the climate retarded prog- 
ress. The chief hope for labor was based on the impor- 
tation of negroes from Africa. 

Some German settlers, who, a few years before, had 
been induced by one Law, a great stock-jobbing and land 
speculator, to emigrate to the banks of the Arkansas, de- 
cided to remove. A tract of land, lying twenty miles 
above New Orleans, known now as the " German coast," 
was given them. Tlieir settlement was in contrast with i~-2. 
the others. They were industrious, and cultivated their 
farms, raised vegetables, rice, and other provisions ; also 
tobacco and indigo. The fig and the orange were now 
introduced. The Illinois region had been settled by emi- 
grants from Canada, who raised wheat and sent flour to 
the colonists below. The priests meanwhile were not idle 
in teaching the Indians, and a convent was founded a^ 
New Orleans for the education of girls. As the colonists 
had not energy enough to protect themselves, a thousand 
soldiers weie sent from France for that purpose. 1724. 

The Choc taws, the allies of the Freucli, occupied the 
region between the lower Mississippi and the Alabama. 
The principal village of the Natchez tribe was on the 
bluft' where now stands the city of that name. They 
were not a numerous people, unlike the tribes among 
whom they dwelt, in their language as well as in their 



218 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, religion. Like the Peruvians, they were worshippei-s of 

the sun, and in their great wigwam they kept an undying 

1724. fire. Their prineii)al chief professed to be a, descendant 
of the sun. They became justly alarmed at the encroach- 
ments of the French, who having Fort Kosalie, demanded 
the soil on which stood their principal village, for a farm. 
They suddenly fell upon the white intruders and killed 
two hundred of their number, and took captive their women 
and children. The negro slaves joined the Indians. Their 
principal chief, the Great Sun, had the heads of the 
French officers slain in the battle arranged around him, 
1730. that he m^ht smoke his pipe in triumph ; — his triumph 
was short. A company, consisting of French and Choc- 
taws, under Le Sucr, came up from New Orleans, and 
surprised them while they were yet celebrating their vic- 
tory. The Great Sun and four hundred of his people were 
taken captive and sent to St. Domingo as slaves. Some 
of the Natchez escaped and fled to the Chickasaws, and 
some fled beyond the Mississippi ; their land passed into 
the hand of strangers, and soon, they as a people were 
unknown. 

The territory of the brave Chickasaws, almost sur- 
rounding that of the Natchez, extended north to the Ohio, 
and east to the land of the Cherokees. They were the 
enemies of the French, whose boats, trading from Canada 
and Illinois to New Orleans, they were accustomed U< 
plunder. English traders from Carolina were careful to 
increase this enmity toward their rivals. 
1735, Two expeditions were set on foot to chastise these bold 

marauders. Bienville came up from the south with a 
fleet of boats and canoes, and a force of twelve hundred 
Choctaws ; he paddled up the Tombecbee as far as he 
could, and then hastefied across the country to surprise 
one of their fortified places. D'Artaguette hastened down 
Irom the Illinois country, of which he was governor, with 
fifty Frenchmen and a thousand Indians, to attack an- 



EXPEDITION AGAINST LOUISBURG. 219 

other of their strongholds. The Chickasaws were too ''5^,''- 

vigilant to be thus surprised. They repulsed Bienville, . 

dispersed the forces of D'Artaguette, took him prisoner, l^o5. 
and burned him at the stake. Once more an attempt was May 
made with all the force the French could bring to crush 
this warlike tribe, but in vain ; the patriotic Chickasaws 
successfully defended their country against the foreign foe. 1740. 

These reverses did not deter the persevering French 
from establishing trading houses south of Lake Erie, and 
down the Alleghany to the Ohio, and thence to the Mis- 
sissippi. The people of Pennsylvani£\„ Maryland, and 
Virginia became alarmed at these encroachments on their 
territory. The Iroquois professed to have conquered all 
the valley of the Ohio, and they claimed a vast region to 
the north-west as their hunting grounds. Commissioners 
from the above colonies met the envoys of the Iroquois at 174,^. 
Lancaster, and purchased from them for £400 all their -^"'y- 
claim to the regions which they professed to own between 
the Blue Eidge and the Alleghany mountains. 

The colonies had enjoyed nearly thirty years of com- 
parative freedom from French and Indian incursions, when 
they were involved in what is known as King George's j^^^ 
War. 

The tirst intimation of hostilities was an attack upon 
the fort at Canso, in which the garrison was cajjtured and 
carried to Louisburg. Louisburg was the great strong- 
hold of the French on this continent ; the centre from 
which privateering expeditions were fitted out, that had 
nearly destroyed the commerce as well as the fisheries of 
New England. To prevent these depredations, and the 
inroads to which the French incited their Indian allies, 
Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, proposed to the Gen- 
eral Court to take Louisburg. No aid was expected from 
the mother country — she was too much engaged at home ; 
but the other colonies were invited to enlist in the com- 
mon cause. New Jersey and Pennsylvania agreed to 



220 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



t'HAP furnish money, but declined to send men ; New Tort 

furnished money and some cannon ; Connecticut offered 

1744. five hundred men ; Khode Island and New Hampshire 
each furnished a regiment. Massachusetts proposed the 
expedition, was the most interested in its success, bore 
the greater part of the expense, and furnished the greater 
portion of the men and vessels. The fishermen, especially 
those of Marblehead, entered upon the enterprise with 
alacrity. Their fisheries had been almost ruined and they 
thrown out of employment, by the continued forays from 
Louisburg. Farmers, mechanics, and lumbermen volun- 
teered in great numbers. Here were citizen soldiers, 
without a single man whose knowledge of military tactics 
went beyond bush-fighting with the Indians, and all 
equally ignorant of the proper means to be used in redu- 
cing a fortified place. A wealthy merchant, William Pej)- 
perell, of Maine, was elected commander. The artillery 
was under the direction of Gridley, the same who, thirty 
years afterward, held a similar position in an American 
army under very different circumstances. The enthusiasm 
was great, and what was lacking in means and skill, was 
supplied by zeal. A strong Protestant sentiment was 
mingled with the enterprise, and Whitefield, then on his 
third tour of preaching in the colonies, was urged to fur- 
nish a motto for a banner. He promptly suggested, " Nil 
desiJerandum, Christo duce," — " Nothing is to be despaired 
of when Christ is leader." He also preached to them an 
inspiriting sermon, and they sailed, like the Crusaders of 
old, confident of success. 
jy45 In April the fleet arrived at Canso, l)ut owing to the 

ice, could not enter the harbor of Louisburg. Intelligence 
of the expedition had been sent to England, and Admiral 
Warren, who commanded on the West India station, was 
invited to join in the enterprise. He declined for want of 
explicit orders, but afterward receiving permission, he 
hastened to join them with four men-of-war. 



LOUISBTJRG CAPTURED. 



221 



The whole anuaiiient was now put iii motion for Lou- CHAI'. 
isburg. That stronghold had walls forty feet thick, thirty , — 
feet high, aod surrounded by a ditch eighty feet wide, 1745. 
with protecting forts around it, jnanned by nearly two 
hundred and fifty cannon, small and great, and garrisoned 
by sixteen hundred men. 

As the fleet approached, the French came down to the 
beach to oppose their landing, but in a moment the " whale 
boats," filled with armed men, were " flying like eagles" 
to the shore. Their opposers, panic-stricken, fled ; and 
the following night the soldiers of the royal battery, one 
of the outside forts, spiked their cannon and retreated to 
the town. The deserted fort was immediately taken pos- 
session of, and the gunsmiths went to work to bore out 
the spikes. The nest day a detachment marched round 
the town, giving it three cheers as they passed, and took 
up a position that completely enclosed the place on the 
land side, while the fleet did the same toward the ocean. 
They threw up batteries, dragged their cannon over a 
morass, and brought them to bear upon the fortress. 

These amateur soldiers soon became accustomed to 
encamping in the open air, and sleeping in the woods, as 
well as to the cannon-balls sent among them by the be- 
sieged. They not only prevented ships from entering the 
harbor, but found means to decoy into the midst of their 
fleet and capture a man-of-war of sixty-four guns, laden 
with stores for the fort. This loss so much disheartened 
the garrison that, after a siege of seven weeks, Louisburg ' J!!* 
surrendered. The news of this success sent a thrill of 
joy throughout the colonies. It was the greatest feat 
of the war, and was accomplished by undisciplined volun- 
teers. 

France resolved, at any cost, to recover her stronghold, 
and also to desolate the English colonies. The fleet sent 
for the purpose was disabled by storms, while pestilence 
wasted the men. The commander, the Duke d'Anville, 



222 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. suLldonly died, and his successor, a short time after, coin- 

'_ uiitted suicide. The next year, the fleet sent for the eama 

1746. purpose was forced to strike its colors to an English squad- 
ron under Admirals Anpon and Warren. 

Though thus successful, the frontier settlements still 
suffered greatlj', and in self-defence the old project was 
revived of conquering Canada. The government of Eng- 
land required all the colonies, as far south as Virginia, to 
furnish men and means. Eight thousand men were raised, 
of wliich number Massachusetts furnished nearly one-half 
The British ministry suddenly changed their mind, and 
the enterprise was abandoned. Soon after, the treaty of 
Aix la Chapelle was concluded, by which all places taken 
by either party during the war were to be restored. Thus 
Louisburg, the capture of which was so gratifying to the 
colonists, and so significant of their daring S23irit, passed 
1748. again into the hands of the French. 

The ministry did not relish the ardor and independ- 
ence of the colonists, who api:)eared to have, according to 
Admiral Warren, " the highest notions of the rights and 
liberties of Englishmen ; and, indeed, as almost levellers." 
It was in truth the foreshadowing of their complete inde- 
pendence of the mother country, and measures were taken 
by her to make them more subservient. They were for- 
bidden to have any manufactures, to trade to any place 
out of the British dominions, while no other nation than 
the English were permitted to trade with them. " These 
oppressions," says an intelligent traveller of that day, 
" may make, within thirty or fifty years, the colonies en- 
tirely independent of England." 

For many years there had been a marked decline in 
religion in New England. A peculiar union of church 
and state had led to a sort of compromise between the 
two, known as the " Half-way covenant," by which per- 
sons who had been baptized, but without pretensions to 



OONATHAN EDWARDS. THE GREAT REVIVAL. 223 

personal piety, were admitted to the full privileges of '^^y^- 
church members. 

In the midst of this declension a religious "Awaken- 1T35. 
ing," hetter known as the " Great Eevival," commenced 
at Northampton, in Massachusetts, under the preaching 
of Jonathan Edwards, a young man remarkable for his 
intellectual endowments. His sermons were doctrinal and 
strongly Calvinistic. His religious character had been 
early developed. At thirteen he entered Yale College ; 
thoughtful beyond his years, a metaphysician by nature, 
at that early age he was enraptured with the perusal of 
Locke on the " Understanding." Secluded from the world 
by the love of study, he penetrated far into the mysteries 
of the workings of the human mind. 

Edwards drew from the Bible the knowledge of the 
true relation between the church and the world. The 
contest was long and strenuous, but the lines were clearly 
drawn, and from that day to this the distinction is marked 
and appreciated. " He repudiated the system of the Half- 
way covenant," and proclaimed the old doctrines of " the 
sole right of the sanctified to enjoy the privileges of church 
members, and of salvation by faith alone." As the influ- 
ence of the state in religious matters thus began to fade 
away, a closer spiritual relation of men to men, not as 
members of a commonwealth alone, but as members of a 
great brotherhood, gained in importance. 

Parties sprang into existertce ; those who favored a 
more spiritual life in religion were stigmatized as " New 
Lights," while the steady conservatives were known as 
the " Old Lights." So bitter was the feeling that in Con- 
necticut the civil authority was invoked, and severe laws 1742 
were enacted against the New Lights. The controversy 
was so warm that Edwards was driven from his congresa- 
tion — at that time, "the largest Protestant society in the 
world." He went as a missionary to the Housatonic In- 
dians at Stockbridge, Massachusetts. There in the forest. 



224 HISTORY OF THE A3IERICAN PEOPLK. 

CHAP, amid toils and privations, he wrote his far-famed treatise 
_J__ on the " Freedom of the Will," which has exerted so 

1750. much influence in the theological world, while the writer 
was the first American that obtained a European reputa- 
tion as an author. 

17-iO. During this period Whiteficld came, by invitation, to 

New England. He had been i^reaching in the south with 
unexampled success. At intervals, for more than thirty 
years, he preached the gospel from colony to colony. " Hun- 
dreds of thousands heard the highest evangelical truths 
uttered with an eloquence probably never equalled." The 
influence of the awakening spread till all the colonies 
were visited by the same blessings, especially the Presby- 
terians of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and 
in a less degree in the more southern colonies. These 
influences were not limited to that age, for similar revivals 
have continued to our own times. 

The Baptists, hitherto but few in number, received a 
new impulse, as many of the New Light chnrches adopted 
their views ; and the preaching of Whitefield prepared 
the way for the success of the Methodists. 

The revival created a want for ministers of the gospel, 
to supply which, the Rev. William Tennent established 
an academy at Neshaminy ; an institution where ^young 
men professing the religious fervor that characterized those 
prominent in the revival, could be prepared for the sacred 
ofiSce. This was the germ of Princeton College. 

This religious sentiment met with little sympathy 
from the authorities of the colony, and with difficulty a 

1716. charter was obtained. The institution was named Nassau 
Hall, in honor of the great Protestant hero, William III. 
It was first located at Elizabeth town, then at Newark, 

1757. and finally at Princeton. Its success was unexampled ; 
in ten years the number of students increased from eight 
to ninety. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

The Valley of the Ohio.— French and English Claimants.— Gist the Pioneer. 
— George Washington ■, his Character ; his Mission to the French on 
the Alleghany. — Returns to Williamsburg. — St. Pierre's Letter unsatis- 
factory. — Virginians driven from the Ohio. — Fort Du Quesne built. — 
Washington sent to defend the Frontiers. — Conflict at Fort Necessity. — 
The Fort abandoned. — Biitish Troops arrive in America. — Plan of oper- 
ations. — General Braddoek ; his qualifications. — The Army marches 
from Wills' Creek. — Obstinacy of Braddoek. — Arrival on the Mononga- 
hela. — The Battle. — Defeat. — Death and Burial of Braddoek. — Dun- 
bar's Panic. — The Frontiers left unprotected. 

Scarcely an English jcolonist had yet settled in the val- ch.\p. 
ley of the Ohio. The traders who visited the Indians in ^1_ 
that region, told marvellous stories of the fertility of the 1749, 
soil, and the desirableness of the climate. It was pro- 
posed to found a colony west of the AUeghany mountains. 
The governor of Virginia received royal instructions to 
grant the " Ohio Company " five hundred thousand acres 
of land lying between the rivers Monongahela and Kana- 
wha, and on the Ohio. The company engaged to send one 
hundred families ; to induce them to emigrate they offered 
them freedom from quit-rents for ten years. 

Meantime, the French sent three hundred men to ex- 
pel the English traders and take possession of the valley. 
They also sent agents, who passed through the territory 
north of the Ohio river, and at various points nailed on 
the trees plates of lead, on which were inscribed the arms 
of France. This they were careful to do in the presence 
15 



226 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

""xxF" °^ ^^^^ Indians, who suspected they intended to take away 
their lands. When the English came and made surveys 



1749. on the south side of the Ohio, they asked them the puz- 
zling question : " If the French take possession of the 
north side of the Ohio, and the English of the south, 
where is the Indian's land ? " 

At Wills' Creek, now Cumberland, Maryland, one of 
the easiest passes over the mountains commenced. Here 
the Ohio Company established a place of deposit to sup- 
ply Indian traders with goods. They also wished to 
explore the Ohio river to the great falls ; to ascertain the 
location of the best lands, and whether the Indians were 
friendly or unfriendly. They employed for this dangerous 
and difficult task the celebrated trader and pioneer Chris- 
topher Gist, who crossed the mountains and came upon 
the Alleghany river, at a village occupied by a few Dela- 
ware Indians. Thence he passed down to Logstown, a 
sort of head-quarters for traders, situated some miles 
below the junction of that river and the Monongahela. 
Here dwelt a renowned chief of tlu3 western tribes, Tana- 
charison, or half-king, as he was called, because he ac- 
knowledged a sort of allegiance to the Mohawks. " You 
are come to settle the Indian lands," said the resident 
traders, whose suspicions were roused ; " you will never go 
home safe." Gist traversed the region of the Muskingum 
and of the Scioto, then crossed the Ohio, and passed up 
the Cuttawa or Kentucky to its very springs. He gave a 
glowing account of the beauty and fertility of .the region 
he had visited. It was covered with trees of immense 
size, the wild cherry, the ash, the black walnut, and the 
sugar maple, the two latter giving indubitable proof of the 
fertility of the soil ; a land abounding in never-failing 
springs and rivulets, forests interspersed with small mead- 
ows, covered with long grass and white clover, on which 
fed herds of elk, deer, and buffalo, while the wikl turkey 
and other game promised abundance to the hunter and 



GBOEGE WASHINGTON. 227 

pioneer. Such was the primitive character of the territoiy ^-'^j^j^- 
since known as the State of Ohio. 

He ascertained that French emissaries were visiting 1T49. 
all the western tribes, to induce them to take up arms 
against the English ; that the Indians looked upon both 
as intruders, and though willing to trade with both, were 
unwilling that either should occupy their lands. The 
French saw that if the English obtained a foothold on the 
Ohio, they would cut off the communication between the 
Lakes and the Mississippi. The final struggle for the 
supremacy in the valley was near at hand. 

While the English, by invitation of the Indians, were 
approaching from the south, to build a fort at the head of 
the Ohio, the French were approaching the same point 
from the north. The latter had built war vessels at Fron- 
tenac to give them the command of Lake Ontario ; they 
had strengthened themselves by treaties with the most 
powerful tribes, the Shawnees and the Delawares ; they 
had repaired Fort Niagara, at the foot of Lake Erie, and 
at this time had not less than sixty fortified and well gar- 
risoned posts between Montreal and New Orleans. They 
bad also built a fort at Presque Isle, now Erie, one on 
French Creek, on the site of Waterford, and another at 
the junction of that creek with the Alleghany, now the 
village of Franklin. 

Dinwiddle, governor of Virginia, resolved to send a 
messenger to remonstrate with the French for intruding 
on English territory. Where could he find a man of en- 
ergy and prudence to tnast in this laborious and perilous 
undertaking ? His attention was directed to a mere 
youth, in his twenty-second year, a surveyor, who, in the 
duties of his profession, had become somewhat familiar 1732. 
with the privations of forest life. That young man was 22. 
George Washington. He was a native of Westmoreland 
county, Virginia. The death of his father left him an 
orphan when eleven years of age. The wealthy Virginia 



228 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, planters of those days were accustomed to send their 

L sons to England to complete their education, and thus 

1749. had Lawrence, his half-brother, fourteen years older than 
himself, been educated. No such privilege was in store 
for George. His father's death may have interfered with 
such plans : be that as it may, he was sent to the com- 
mon school in the neighborhood, and there taught only 
the simplest branches of an English education — to spell, 
to read, to write, to cipher. When older, he went for some 
time to an academy of a somewhat higher grade, where he 
devoted his time particularly to the study of mathematics. 
Though his school advantages were so limited, it was 
his inestimable privilege to have a mother endowed with 
good sense, united to decision of character and Christian 
principle, — she inspired love, she enforced obedience. 
From her he inherited an ardent, impulsive temper— from 
her he received its antidote ; she taught him to hold it in 
subjection. 

The early life of George Washington furnishes an ex- 
ample worthy the imitation of the youth of his cormtry. 
We are told of his love of truth, of his generous and noble 
acts, that he won the confidence of his schoolmates, and 
received from them that respect which virtue alone can 
secure. 

He was systematic and diligent in all his studies. 
There may yet be seen, in the library at Mount Vernon, 
the book in which he drew his first exercises in surveying ; 
every diagram made with the utmost care. Thus was 
foreshadowed in the youth what was fully developed in 
the man. At the early age of sixteen, we find him in the 
woods on the frontiers of Virginia, performing his duties 
as a surveyor ; making his measurements with so much 
accuracy that to this day they are relied upon. 

We must not suppose that the studious and sedate 
youth, with his rules for governing his " conversation and 
conduct " carefully written out, and as carefully observed, 



THE FORMATION OF HIS CHARACTER. 229 

was destitute of boyish feelings. He had his youthful *"^^j^- 

sijorts and enjoyments ; he could exhibit feats of strength 

and skill ; could ride a horse or throw a stone with any 1749. 
boy, and was so far military in his tastes as occasionally to 
drill his school-fellows during recess. 

His brother Lawrence had spent some time in the Eng- 
lish navy, and George had often heard of the excitements 
of the seaman's life, and had boyish longings for adven- 
tures on the ocean. Circumstances seemed to favor his 
wishes. When fourteen, it was decided that he should 
enter the navy. The man-of-war on which he was to go 
as a midshipman was lying in the Potomac ; his baggage 
was ready, but when the parting hour came the mother's 
heart failed. Though deeply disappointed, George yielded 
to her wish, and relinquished his anticipated pleasure. 

Though Washington was born and spent his youth in 
the wdds of Virginia, there were many refining influences 
brought to bear upon the formation of his character. He 
was intimate for years in the Fairfax family, who brought 
with them to their western home the refinement and cul- 
ture of the English aristocracy of that day. Neither 
must we overlook the benign influence exerted over him 
by his educated and benevolent brother Lawrence, who, 
up to the time of his death, watched over his young 
brother with a father's care, as well as a brother's love. 

The influence of Christian principle governing the im- 
pulses of a noble nature, was the secret of the moral 
excellence, the dignified integrity, unaffected candor, and 
sterling worth, which shone forth in the character of 
Washington, — a name so much blended with the liberties 
of his country, and so much cherished and honored by the 
friends of humanity in every clime. 

Governor Dinwiddle gave his youthful messenger a 
letter for the French commandant on the Ohio, in which 
he demanded of him his reasons for invading the territory 
of England. The very day on which Washington re- 



230 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

*^xxi^' ^^^'^'^^ ^^ credentials, (October 30,) he left Williamsburg 

for Winchester, then a frontier town of Virginia. By the 

1750. middle of November his preparations were completed. 
With a company consisting of the intrepid Gist, who 
acted as guide, two interpreters, and four others, he set 
out from Wills' Creek. A. journey of nine days, through 
solitudes and mountain passes, and across streams swoUen 
by recent rains, brought them to where the Mouougahela, 
that river " so deep and still," meets the " swift running 
Alleghany." Washington explored the neighborhood, and 
remarks in his journal : " The land at the Fork is 
extremely well situated for a fort, as it has absolute 
command of both rivers." Thus thought the French en- 
gineers, who afterward on that very spot built Fort Du 
Quesne. 

Shingis, chief sachem of the Delawares, who afterward 
took up arms against the English, accompanied him to 
Logstown. Here, by his instructions, Washington was to 
confer with the Indian chiefs : he summoned theui to a 
grand talk. They would not commit themselves ; they 
had heard that the French were coming with a strong 
force to drive the English out of the land. But he in- 
duced three of them to accompany him to the station of 
the French commandant ; among these was the Half- 
King. 

When he arrived at Venango, or Franklin, the officer 
in commantt referred him to the ChevaHer St. Pierre, 
general officer at the next post. Meanwhile he was 
treated with politeness, and invited by the French officers 
to a supper. The wine passed freely, and the talka- 
tive Frenchmen began to boast of their plans ; they 
would " take possession of the Ohio ; the English could 
raise two men for their one, but they were too slow and 
dilatory." The sober and cautious Washington marked 
well their words. The three chiefs had promised well ; 
they would give back the speech belts to the French ; 



THE VIRGINIANS DRIVEN FROM TgE OHIO. 231 

Ihey were friends to the English. But when \Aied with ^^^.^'■ 

drink, and hailed by the French as " Indian brothers," . 

they wavered for a time. 1753. 

Washington obtained an interview with St. Pierre, 
'' an ancient and silver-haired chevalier, courteous but 
ceremonious," and after some delay received an answer to 
his despatches, and hastened homeward. As the pack- 
horses were disabled, he left them and the baggage, and 
with Gist for his only companion struck out into the wil- 
derness. The cold was intense, the snow was falling, and 
freezing as it fell. Wraj)ped in Indian blankets, ynth. 
their guns in their hands and knapsacks on their backs, 
and a compass to guide them, they pushed on toward the 
Alleghany river, which they hoped to cross on the ice. 
Their journey through the pathless wild was marked by 
some mishaiDS and hairbreadth escapes. Tiieir lives were 
endangered by a false guide, and Washington in endeav- 
oring to force his way through the ice in the river, came 
near perishing ; but, on the sixteenth of January, they 1754., 
arrived safely at Williamsburg. 

The answer of St. Pierre was courteous but indefinite. 
He referred the matter to the Marquis Du Quesne, the 
governor of Canada. It was clear, however, that he did 
not intend to retire from the valley of the Ohio. This 
was still more evident from the preparations of boats, ar- 
tillery, and military stores, which Washington noticed up 
the Alleghany, waiting for the spring flood, when they 
would be taken to their place of destination. 

The following spring the Ohio Company sent between 
thirty and forty men to build a fort at the head of the 
Ohio. The French were on the alert ; a company of sol- 
diers floated down the Alleghany, who surprised and sur- 
rounded them at their work. They must surrender in an 
hour's time or defend themselves against a thousand men. 
They were glad to leave their unfinished fort and return 



232 HISTQKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

CHAP, to Virginia. The French took immediate possession. 

finished it, and named it Du Quesne. 

1754. At the early age of nineteen Washington had been 

appointed Adjutant-General of the northern district of 
Virginia, an office which he filled to the entire satisfaction 
of his countrymen. Now he received the commission of 
lieutenant-colonel, with orders to protect the frontiers. 
He was also offered the command of the expedition against 
the French at Fort Du Quesne. This he declined on ac- 
count of his youth ; the command was then conferred 
upon Colonel Fry, who shortly after fell ill, and it virtu- 
ally passed into the hands of Washington. His little 
army was ill provided with tents and military stores, and 
poorly clad. They moved on very slowly. It was not 
easy with a train of artillery to pass through the forests, 
clinil) mountains, and ford swollen rivers. Washington 
pushed on with a detachment for the junction of the Red- 
stone and Monongahela. There, on the spot now known 
as Brownsville, he hojied to maintain his position until 
the main force should come up, and then they would float 
down the river in flat-boats to Fort Du Quesne. 

On the ninth of May this detachment arrived at a 
place called the Little Meadows. Here they met traders, 
who informed them that the French were in great force at 
Du Quesne, and that a portion of them had set out on a 
secret expedition. There was but little doubt as to its 
object. Presently came an Indian runner ; he had seen 
the tracks of the Frenchmen ; they were near. The Half- 
King with forty warriors was also in the neighborhood. 
On a dark and stormy night, Washington and forty of his 
men groped their way to his camp, which they reached 
about daylight. This faithful ally put a couple of runners 
upon the enemy's tracks ; they reported that the French 
were encamped in a deep glen, where they had put up 
temporary cabins. 

Washington arranged his company in two divisions, and 



SUREENDER OF FORT NECESSITY. 233 

SO effectually surprised them that few of their number ^^\^^- 

escaped. Among the slain was the youthful De Jumon- 

ville, the leader of the party. Here was shed the first 1754. 
blood in that seven years' struggle, in which the French 
power on this continent was broken. As no reinforce- 
ments were sent, Washington was greatly disappointed ; 
he could not maintain the advantage he had gained. He 
heard that a numerous force was on its way to attack him. 
In a letter to his friend Colonel Fairfax he writes : " The 
motives that have led me here are pure and noble. I had 
no view of acquisition, but that of honor by serving 
faithfully my king and countiy." 

He built a fort at the Great Meadows, which, from 
the fact of famine pressing upon them, he named Fort 
Necessity. It is a fact worthy of mention, that at this 
encampment public prayer was daily obsei-ved, and con- 
ducted by the youthful commander himself 

Soon five hundred French and many hundred Indians 
appeared on the hills in sight of the fort. He drew out 
his men for battle, but tlie_enemy declined the contest. 
Then he withdrew them within the inclosure, giving them 
directions to fire only when an enemy was in sight. This 
irregular fighting continued throughout the day. The 
rain poured in torrents, and rendered useless many of 
thejr muskets. At night the French desired a parley ; 
suspecting stratagem to introduce a spy, Washington at 
first refused, but at length consented. Much of the night 
was spent in negotiation ; finally, the Virginians were 
allowed to leave the fort with the honors of war, and their 
equipments and stores, except artillery. The next morn- 
ing the youthful hero led out his men. The Indians im- julj 
mediately began to plunder ; Washington, seeing this, '''■ 
ordered every thing to be destroyed that the soldiers could 
not carry. The loss of the Virginia regiment, which 
numbered about three hundred, was nearly fifty ; the loss 
of the enemy was greater. After much toil and sufi'ering. 



234 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAK PEOPLE. 

^xxi' ■^''°™ ^^"*' °^ provisions, they arrived at Cumberlancl. 

Thus ended the first military exjaedition of Washington. 

1754. Although unsuccessful, he displayed so much prudence 
and judgment that the people were impressed by his 
merits, and which the House of Burgesses acknowledged 
by a vote of thanks. 

He was, however, soon after annoyed and mortified by 
the course pursued by the narrow-minded Dinwiddio, who, 
unwilling to promote the provincial officers, dissolved the 
Virginia regiments, and formed them into independent 
companies, in which there should be no officer of higher 
rank than that of captain. With a dignity and self-respect 
worthy of his character, Washington withdrew from the 
army. When Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, was ap- 
pointed commander-in-chief by the king, he invited him, 
through a friend, to join it again under the title of colonel, 
but really with no higher authority than that of captain. 
He declined the offer, writing in reply, " If you think me 
capable of holding a commission that has neither rank 
nor emolument annexed to it, you must maintain a very 
contemptible opinion of my weakness, and believe me more 
empty than the commission itself " He was still further 
mortified by Dinwiddle's refusal to give up the French 
prisoners, according to the articles of capitulation at Fort 
Necessity. 

While these contests were in progress in the valley of 
the Ohio, the French and English nations were ostensibly 
at peace. Each, desirous of deceiving the other, professed 
to hope that this little colhsion would not interrupt their 
harmony ; the French still continued to send ships to 
America laden with soldiers ; and the English matured 
plans to drive them away. 

Matters took a more decided form ; war was not de- 
clared, but open hostilities commenced, and England, foi 
the first time, sent an army to aid the colonists. 



GENERAL BRADDOCK THE EXPEDITION. 235 

Four expeditions were decided upon : one to capture chap. 

the French posts near the head of the Bay of Fundy, and 

expel the French from Acadie ; another against Crown 1754. 
Point, to be led by William Johnson, Indian agent among 
the Mohawks ; the third, against Niagara and Frontenac. 
was to be intrusted to Shirley, Governor of Massachusetts ; 
the fourth against Fort Du Quesne ; the latter the Com- 
mander-in-chief, General Edward Brad'dock, was to lead 
in person. 

The struggle was about to commence in earnest ; 
British troops had arrived, and the colonies responded with 
a good will to the call of the mother country for levies of 
soldiers. 

General Braddock was perfect in the theoiy and prac- 
tice of mere military training ; he had been in the 
■' Guards '' many years, where he had drilled and drilled, 
but had never seen actual service. With the conceited 
assurance of inexperience, he believed the excellencies 
of the soldier were alone found in the British regular — 
the perfection of military skill in British officers. To 
these qualifications he added a most supercilious con- 
tempt for the provincial soldier.s and their officers. 

He was to lead in person the force against Fort Du 
Quesne. Of the ditScultics of marching an army over 1155^ 
mountains, and through an unbroken wilderness, he was 
blindly ignorant. He was unwilling to hear advice, or 
even receive information on the subject ; and when Wash- 
ington, whom he had invited to act as one of his aids, 
suggested that " if the march was to be regulated by the 
slow movements of the train, it would be tedious, very 
tedious indeed," he made no reply, but smiled at the sim- 
pUcity of the young man, who knew so little about the 
movements of a regular army. Afterward, Benjamin 
Franklin ventured to direct his attention to the danger of 
Indian ambuscades. To his suggestion Braddock rephed : 
'' The Indians are no doubt fonnidable to raw Americans, 



236 HISTORY OF THE AJIEKICAIT PEOPLE. 

CHAP, but upon the king's regulars, and disciplined troops, it is, 

sir, impossible they should make any impression." 

1755. The army assembled at Wills' Creek, to which place 

Braddock came in his coach, and surrounded by his staff, 
" cursing the road very heartily " — its roughness had brok- 
en his coach, and ruffled his temper. He refused to em- 
ploy Indians as scouts on the march, or to protect the 
Pennsylvanians, who were making a road for the passage 
of the army ; hooted at the suggestion of Washington to 
take as little baggage as possible, and to employ pack- 
horses instead of wagons. The English officer's could 
give up neither their cumbrous baggage nor their lux- 
uries, neither could the general dispense with " his 
two good cooks, who could make an excellent ragout out 
of a pair of boots, had they but materials to toss them 
up with." 
j„ng_ After a month's delay, the army commenced its march. 

The difficulties of dragging heavily laden wagons and 
artillery over roads filled with stumps of trees and rocks, 
brought the general partially to his senses, and he inquired 
of Washington what was the best to be done. From 
recent accounts it was known that the garrison at Fort 
Du Quesne was small, and he advised that a division of 
light armed troops should be hurried forward to take pos- 
session of the place, before reinforcements could arrive 
from Canada. Accordingly, twelve hundred choice men 
were "detached from the main body and pushed forward, 
taking with them ten field-jiieces, and pack-horses to cany 
their baggage. ,The main division was left under the com- 
mand of Colonel Dunbar, with orders to move on as fast 
as possible. 

The general persisted in refusing to emi^loy either In- 
dians or backwoodsmen as scouts. There was a celebrated 
hunter, known all along the frontiers as Captain Jack. 
He was " the terror of the Indians." He had been their 
prisoner, had lived years among them, and was familiar 



THE ARMY AT THE MONONGAHELA. 237 

with their habits. Afterward he cleared for himself a ^3^^- 

piece of land, built his cabin, and, happy in his forest life, . 

cultivated his ground and amused himself by hunting and 1755. 
fishing. On his return home on a certain evening he found 
his wife and children murdered, and his cabin in ashes. 
From that hour he devoted his life to defend the frontiers, 
and to avenge himself upon the destroyers of- his worldly 
happiness. He offered his services and those of his band 
to act as scouts, and seek the Indians in their lurking- 
places. Braddock received him very coldly, and declined 
the offer, saying that he " had experienced troops upon 
whom he could rely for all purposes." 

Even the advance di\dsion moved very slowly, not 
more than three or four miles a day. Says Washington 
in a letter, " Instead of pushing on with vigor, without 
regarding a little rough road, they halt to level every 
mole-hill and to erect a bridge over every brook." A 
month's slow marcj;i through the woods brought the army 
to the east bank of the Monongahela, about fifteen miles 
above Fort Du Quesne. Only the very day before the pro- 
posed attack on that fort, Washington, who had been 
detained by a fit of sickness, was able to join them. As July9. 
the hills came down to the water's edge, it was necessary 
to cross the river directly opposite to the camp, and five 
miles below, at another ford, recross to the east side. 
Colonel G-age — he, who, twenty years afterward, com- 
manded a British army in Boston — crossed before daylight, 
and with his detachment moved rapidly to the second 
ford ; then recrossing, took position to protect the passage 
of the main force. Washington ventured once more to 
suggest that the Virginia Eangers, consisting of three hun- 
dred men, should be thrown in advance. This proposition 
received an angry reply from Braddock, and, as if to make 
the rebuke more conspicuous, the Virginians and other 
provincials were placed as a rear -guard. At sunrise the 
remainder of the army was in motion. Their equipments 



238 HISTORY OF THE- AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, were in the most perfect order : their muskets were hiir- 
XXI. . ■ ^ . ' . 
nished, and charged with fresh cartridges, and in high 

1755. spirits they moved along, with bayonets fixed, colors flying, 
and drums heating. 

About two o'clock in the afternoon, after recrossing the 
river, as the army was moving along a narrow road, not 
more than twelve feet wide, with scarcely a scout in front 
or on the flanks, the engineer, who was marking the way, 
suddenly cried out " French and Indians." Scarcely was 
the alarm given, before rapid firing was heard in front, 
accompanied by most terrific yells. The army was in a 
broad ravine, covered with low shrubs, with moderately 
rising ground in front and on both sides. On this eleva- 
tion among the trees were the French and Indians, in^asi- 
ble to the English, but from their hiding-places able to see 
every movement of the soldiers in the ravine, and to take 
deliberate aim. The regulars were thrown into confusion ; 
the sight of their companions shot down beside them by 
an invisible enemy, together with the unearthly yells of 
the savages, sent a thrill of horror through their souls. 
They were ordered to charge bayonet up the liill, but no 
orders could induce them to leave the line. The enemy 
had been sent to occupy this very position, but had arrived 
too late ; now they were spreading all along both sides of 
tiie ravine. The English soldiers lost all control, and fired 
at random into the woods, wherever they saw the smoke 
of an enemy's gun. The advance party fell back upon 
the second division, and threw it into still greater confu- 
sion. At this moment Colonel Burton came up with a 
reinforcement, eight hundred strong, but just as they had 
formed to face the enemy, down upon them rushed the 
two foremost divisions pell-mell ; all were crowded to- 
gether in inextricable confusion, and their officers were 
nearly all slain or wounded. Now came Braddock him- 
self He ordered the colors to advance, and the respective 



THE BATTLE. 239 

regiments to separate and form in ranks — but in vain. No '^^^■ 
orders were obeyed. 

In a few minutes after the battle commenced the Vir- 1755 
ginia Kangers were behind trees, and rapidly jiicking off 
the Indians ; but unfortunately many of these brave men 
fell victims to the random shots of the regulars. Wash- 
ington entreated Braddock to permit his soldiers to pro- 
tect themselves, as the Virginians had done ; but he 
refused, and still persisted in striving to form them into 
platoons, and when any sheltered themselves behind trees, 
he called them cowards and struck them with the flat of 
his sword. Thus, through his obstinacy, these unfortu- 
nate men became targets for the enemy. The officers ex- 
hibited the greatest bravery, and many of them fell, as 
they were the special objects of the sharpshooters. Two 
of the aids, Morris and Orme, were severely wounded, 
and their duties devolved upon Washington. His expo- 
sure was great, as he passed often from one part of the 
field to another ; yet he gave his orders with calmness 
and judgment. When sent to bring up the artillery, he 
found the Indians surrounding it, Sir Peter Halket, the 
commander, killed, and the men paralyzed with fear. He 
encouraged them, leaped from his horse, jjointed a field- 
piece and discharged it. It was useless ; the men deserted 
the guns. For three hours the desperate fight lasted. 
During this time Braddock was in the centre of the con- 
flict, trying, hi his tvay, to regain the field. His ofiGcers 
liad nearly all fallen, and his slain soldiers covered the 
ground ; still he would not permit the remainder to adopt 
the Indian mode of fighting. 

Five horses were shot under him, and finally he him- 
self was mortally wounded. As he was falling from Ms 
horse Captain Stewart, of the Virginia Guards, caught 
him in his arms. As they bore him out of danger, he 
begged to be left to die upon tlie field of his misfortune. 
All was now abandoned. The fall of the general saved 



240 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, the army from entire destruction. The soldiers were now 

J at liberty to save themselves as best they could. " The 

1755. regulars fled like sheep before hounds." The Virginia 
Rangers threw themselves in the rear, and for some time 
held the enemy in check. The wagoners moimted their 
team-horses and fled ; all hurried to the ford, fiercely pur- 
sued by the Indians. The love of plunder restrained the 
pursuers, and after the fugitives had recrossed the river 
they were not molested. 

Washington rode all that night and the next day to 
Dunbar's camp to obtain wagons to transport the wounded, 
and soldiers to guard them. When he had obtained these 
he hastened back to meet the fugitives. 

Braddock was still able to issue orders, and seems to 
have had a faint hope that he might hold out till he 
could receive reinforcements. He was carried by the sol- 
diers, being unable to mount a horse ; — at length, the 
fugitives arrived at Fort Necessity. The wounded gen- 
eral appeared to be heart-broken. He scarcely spoke ; as 
if reflecting on his past confidence in his troops, he would 
occasionally ejaculate, " Who would have thought it ? " 
Tradition tells of his softened feelings toward those whom 
he had treated harshly ; of his gratitude to Captain Stew- 
art for his care and kindness ; of his apology to Washing- 
ton for the manner in which he had received his advice. 
On the night of the thirteenth of July he died. The next 
morning, before the break of day, he was buried as secretly 
as possible, lest the Indians, who were hovering around, 
should find his grave and violate it. The chaplain was 
among the wounded, and Washington read the funeral 
service. Near the national road, a mile west of Fort 
Necessity, may be seen a rude pile of stones — the work 
of some friendly hand, — it marks the grave of Braddock. 
" His dauntless conduct on the field of battle shows him 
to have been a man of spirit. His melancholy end, too, 
disarms censure of its asperity. Whatever may have been 



THE FRONTIERS LEFT EXPOSED. 241 

his faults and errors, he, in a manner expiated them by '^^'^^'■ 

the hardest lot that can befall a brave soldier ambitious , 

of renown, — an imhonorcd grave in a strange land, a 1755. 
memory clouded by misfortune, and a name ever coupled 
with defeat." ' 

The frightened Dunbar, though he had under his com- 
mand fifteen hundred effective men, — enough, if properly 
led, to have regained the field, — broke up his camp, de- 
stroyed his stores, and retreated with aU speed ; only when 
he had arrived safely in Philadelphia did he breathe freely. 
His failure of duty left the frontiers exposed to the inroads 
of the savages. 

Of eighty-six officers, twenty-six had perished, and 
thirty-six were wounded. Among the latter was Captain 
Horatio Gates, who, twenty-five years later, was conspicu- 
ous as a major-general in the struggle for independence. 
Of the soldiers, more than seven hundred were either 
killed or wounded. The gallant Virginia Kangers had 
perished in great numbers, for upon them had fallen the 
brunt of the battle. When it became known that there 
were only two hundred and twenty-five French, and about 
six hundred and fifty Indians in the battle, the disgrace 
was deeply felt, that this handful of men, sent merely to 
hold the English in check, should have defeated a well- 
equipped and disciplined army of nearly twice their own 
number. 

The religious sentiments of the colonists were greatly 
shocked at the profanity, Sabbath-breaking, and almost 
every form of vice and wickedness common in this boastful 
army. So certain were the expectations of victory, that 
preparations were made to celebrate it. 

It is proper to notice the effect of these events upon the 
minds of the colonists. With them the name of the Brit- 
ish regulars had lost its prestige — they were not invincible. 

' Washington Irving. 

16 



242 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. In addition, the haughtiness of the British officers had 

L inflicted wounds destined never to be healed. The atten- 

1755. tion of the people was directed especially to Washington. 
In a letter to his brother Augustine he says : " By the 
all-powerful dispensation of Providence, I have been pro- 
tected beyond all human probability or expectation ; for 
I had four buUets through my coat, two horses shot under 
me, yet escaped unhurt, though death was levelling my 
companions on every side around me." 

The wonderful manner in which he had been preserved 
in that day of peril, excited universal attention. No 
doubt the Kev. Samuel Davies, one of the most celebrated 
clergymen of the day, expressed the common sentiment, 
when, in a sermon preached soon after Braddock's defeat, 
he referred to him as " that heroic youth. Colonel Wash- 
ington, whom I cannot hut hope Providence has hitherto 
preserved in so signal a manner for some important ser- 
vice to his country." Washington was never wounded in 
battle ; he was shielded by the same protecting hand. 



J 



CHAPTER XXII. 

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR— CONTINUED. 

The French Acadiens; their simple Manners, Industry, and good Morals.— 
Expulsion from their Homes, and mournful Exile. — Expedition ag.ninst 
Crown Point. — Baron Dieskau. — English defeated. — Death of Colcnel 
Williams. — Attack on Johnson's Camp repulsed. — Death of Dieskau. — 
Williams College. — Indian Ravages on the Frontiers of Virginia and 
Pennsylvania. — Kittanning destroyed. — Lord Loudon Commander-in- 
chief — His tardiness and arbitrary Measures. — Montcalm acts with 
Energy ; captures Fort Ontario, then Fort William Henry. — -Exhausted 
condition of Canada. 

In the mean time other expeditions were undertaken tyff 

against the French. For this purpose Massachusetts . 

alone raised eight thousand soldiers, almost one-fifth part 1755. 
of her able-hodied men. A portion of Acadie or Nova 
Scotia was still in the hands of the French. It consisted 
of the isthmus on the northern part, which was defended 
by two insignificant forts. For forty years, since the peace 
of Utrecht, the peninsula had been under British rnle, 
and now the whole territory was completely subdued. 
These forts, with scarcely any resistance, fell into the jnne 
hands of the English. Sixteen years before the Pilgrims ^^■ 
landed at Plymouth this French colony was established 
on the Peninsula of Acadie. It was the oldest perma- 
nent French settlement in North America. For one 
hundred and fifty years the Acadiens had been gradually 
clearing and improving their lands, and enjoying the com- 
forts of rural life. At first their chief sources of wealth 
had been the fisheries and the fur-trade ; but these had 



2ii HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 

Slxii' g'''^'1^i*ilb' gi^'en way to agriculture. Tlieir social inter- 

course was governed by a high tone of morals. Their 

1755. differences, but few in number, were settled by the arbi- 
tration of their old men. Seldom' did they go with com- 
plaints to their English rulers. Early marriages were 
encouraged, and when a young man came of age, his 
neighbors built him a house, and aided him for one year, 
and the wife's friends aided her with gifts. Their fields 
were fertile, and industry made them productive. Their 
meadows, which now were covered with flocks of sheep 
and herds of cattle, they had, by means of dikes, redeemed 
from the great flow of the tide. Their little cottages dot- 
tett'the landscape. In their domestic industry each family 
provided for its own wants, and clothed its members with 
cloth and linen made from the wool of their flocks, or from 
the flax of their fields. 

As Catholics, they were happy in the exercise of their 
religion ; though they belonged to the diocese of Queliec, 
they were not brought into close relation with the people 
of Canada. They knew but little of what was passing 
beyond the limits of their own neighborhood. Independ- 
ent of the world, they had its comforts, but not its luxu- 
ries. They now numbered about seventeen thousand 
inliabitants, and up to this time their English rulers had 
left them undisturbed in their seclusion. 

A dark cloud was hanging over this scene of rural 
simplicity and comfort. As they were excused from bear- 
ing arms against France by the terms of their surrender, 
the Acadiens were known as " French neutrals ;" neither 
had they been required to take the usual oaths of allegi- 
ance ; they had promised submission to English au- 
thority, to be neutral in times of war with France, and it 
was understood they were to enjoy their religion. This 
oath was one which, as good Frenchmen and good Catho- 
lics, they could not take ; it rec[uired them to bear arms 
against their own brethren in Canada, and it might iu- 



THE OATHS 01' ALLEGIANCE. 245 

volve the interests of their religiuu. " Better," urged *-l^^Yj*- 

the priests, " surreuder your meadows to the sea, and 

your houses to the flames, than at the peril of your souls 1755. 
take the oath of allegiance to the British government." 
But it was now to be exacted. " They possess the best 
and largest tract of land in this province," writes Law- 
rence, Lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, to Lord Hali- 
fax ; " if they refuse the oaths, it would be much better 
that they were away." This " largest and best tract " 
seems to have been coveted by their English rulers ; they 
undoubtedly were suspicious of the Acadiens as Catholics, 
and it is true some of their more ardent young men be- 
longed, as volunteers, to the garrisons of the recently 
captured forts ; but as this simpile-minded people had 
neither the wiU nor the power to aid the enemies of Eng- 
land, we cannot suppose that this suspicion alone induced 
the British to visit upon them a severity so unparalleled. 
The ijuestion of allegiance was, however, to be pressed to 
the utmost ; if they refused to take the oath, the titles to 
their lands were to be null and void. The haughty con- 
duct of the British officers sent to enforce these orders 
was to them a harbinger of sorrow. Their property was 
wantonly taken for the public service, and " they not to 
be bargained with for payment ; " if they did not bring 
wood at the proper time, " the soldiers might take their 
houses for fuel." Their guns were taken, and their boats 
seized, under the pretence that they intended to carry 
provisions to the French. The English insisted upon 
treating this people, so faithful to their country and their 
religion, as lawless rebels. Wearied by these oppressions, 
their deputies promised allegiance ; they declared that 
their consciences would not permit them to rebel against 
their rulers, and they humbly asked that their arms and 
boats might be restored. " The memorial is highly arro- 
gant, insidious, and insulting," said the haughty Law- 
rence ; " guns do not belong to you by law, for you are 



246 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^xxu' ■^°™^^ Catholics." After consultation with the jjeople, 

the deputies offered to swear unconditionally. Then they 

1755. were told, as they had once refused, now they should not 
be permitted to swear. 

A calamity, as unexpected as it was dreadful, was at 
hand. By proclamation, " the old men, and young men, 
as well as aU lads over ten years of age," were called upon 
to assemble, on a certain day, the fifth of September, at 
certain posts in their respective districts, to hear the 
Sept. " wishes of the king." The call was obeyed. At Grand 
Pre alone more than four hundred unsuspecting and un- 
armed men and boys came together. They were gathered 
into the church, its doors were closed, and Winslow, the 
commander, announced to them the decision of the Brit- 
ish government. They were to be banished forever from 
their native province ; from the fields they had cultivated, 
from the pleasant homes where they had spent their 
youth. They might not emigrate to lands offered them 
among friends in Canada, lest they should add strength 
to the French. They were to be driven forth as beggars 
among their enemies, a people of a strange language and 
of a different religion. They were retained as prisoners, 
till the ships which were to bear them away were ready. 
As soon as possible, their wives and little children were 
also seized. On the day of embarkation, the young men 
and boys were first ordered on board the ship ; as their 
parents and friends were not allowed to go with them, 
they refused, fearing that if thus separated, they might 
never meet again — a thought they could not bear. But 
resistance and entreaties were useless ; driven by the bay- 
onet, they were marched from the church to the ship, 
which was a mile distant ; their way was lined with weep- 
ing friends, mothers, and sisters, who prayed for blessings 
on their heads, and they themselves wept and prayed and 
mournfully chanted psalms as they passed along. Then 
In the same manner the fathers were driven on board 



THE SORROWS OF THE EXILES. 247 

another ship. The wives and children were left behind ; ^^^■ 

these were kept for weeks near the sea without proper 

shelter or food, shivering in December's cold, till ships 1755. 
could come to take them away. " The soldiers hate them, 
and if they can but find a pretext will kill them." Thus 
wrote an English oiijcer who was engaged in this work of 
cruelty. 

In some places the object of the proclamation was 
suspected, and the men and youth did not assemble. In 
the vicinity of Annapolis some fled to the woods, with 
their wives and children, some went to Canada, while 
others threw themselves upon the hospitality of the In- 
dians, from whom they received a hearty welcome.- That 
these poor people, who had fled to the woods, might be 
compelled by starvation and exposure to give themselves 
up, orders were issued to lay waste their homes, and the 
whole country was made a desolation, from the village 
and its church, to the peasant's cottage and barn. " For 
successive evenings the cattle assembled round the smoul- 
dering ruins, as if in anxious expectation of the return of 
their masters ; while all night long the faithful watch- 
dogs howled over the scene of desolation, and mourned 
alike the hand that had fed, and the house that had shel- 
tered them." ' 

Seven thousand of these poor people were transported 
and cast helpless on the shores of the English colonies, 
from New Hampshire to Georgia. Families were separated 
never to meet again. From time to time, for many j^ears 
afterward, advertisements in the newspapers of the colo- 
nies told the tale of sorrow. Now they inquired for a lost 
wife or husband, now brothers and sisters inquired for 
each other; parents for their children, and children for 
their parents. When any in after years attempted to re- 
turn they were driven ofl". Some of those taken to Georgia 

'Haliburton's History of Nova Scotia. 



248 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAl^' PEOPLE. 

xxn^' '-"'^^^^^ endure their banisliment no longer. They obtained 
boats, and coasted along the shore toward home : but. 



1755. alas ! when almost at the end of their perilous voyage, 
they were ordered away. Some wandered to Louisiana, 
where lands on the river above New Orleans, still known 
as the Acadien coast, were assigned them. 

Tliis work of wanton cruelty was done by men, who un- 
blushiugly congratulated the approving king that the work 
of desolation had been so effectively accomplished — a work, 
which, for its treachery and cowardly cruelty, deserves the 
reprobation of every human breast. " I know not that the 
annals of the human race keep the record of sorrows so 
wantonly inflicted, so bitter and so perennial, as fell upon 
the French inhabitants of Acadie. The hand of the Eng- 
lish official seemed under a spell with regard to them, 
and was never uplifted but to curse them." ' 

The expedition against Crown Point, on Lake Cham- 
plain, had been intrusted to General Wilham Johnson. 
His troops were drawn principally from Massachusetts and 
Connecticut ; a regiment from N'cw Hampshire joined 
them at Albany. At the head of boat navigation on the 
Hudson, a fort was built which, in honor of their com- 
mander, whom they reverenced as " a brave and virtuous 
man," the soldiers named Fort Lyman. But when John- 
son assumed the command he ungenerously changed the 
name to Fort Edward. Leaving a garrison in this fort, 
Johnson moved with about five thousand men to the head 
of Lake George, and there formed a camp, intending to 
descend into Lake Champlain. Hendrick, the celebrated 
Mohawk chief, with his warriors, were among these troops. 
Israel Putnam, too, was there, as a captain, and John 
Stark as a lieutenant, each taking lessons in warfare. 

The French were not idle ; the district of Montreal 
made the most strenuous exertions to meet the invading foe. 

' Bancroft. 



THE ENGLISH FALL INTO AN AMBUSCADE. 249 

All the men who were able to bear arms were called into *^'^\'' 

active service ; so that to gather in the harvest, their 

places were supplied by men from other districts. The 1755. 
energetic Baron Dieskau resolved, by a bold attack, to 
terrify the invaders. Taking with him two hundred reg- 
ulars, and about twelve hundred Canadians and Indians, 
he set out to capture Fort Edward ; but as he drew near, 
the Indians heard that it was defended by cannon, which 
they greatly dreaded, and they refused to advance. He 
now changed his plan, and resolved to attack Johnson's 
camp, which was supposed to be without cannon. 

Meantime scouts had reported to Johnson, that they 
had seen roads made through the woods in the direction 
of Fort Edward. Not knowing the movements of Dieskau, 
a detachment of a thousand men, under Colonel Ephraim 
Williams, of Massachusetts, and two hundred Mohawks, 
under Hendrick, marched to relieve that post. The 
French had information of their approach, and placed 
themselves in ambush. They were concealed among the 
thick bushes of a swamp, on the one side, and rocks and 
trees on the other. The English recklessly marched into 
the defile. They were vigorously attacked, and thrown gept 
into confusion. Hendrick was almost instantly killed, and ^• 
in a short time Williams fell also. The detachment com- 
menced to retreat, occasionally halting to check their pur- 
suers. The firing was heard in the camp ; as the sound 
drew nearer and nearer, it was evident the detachment 
was retreating. The drums beat to arms, trees were 
hastily felled and thrown together to form a breastwork, 
upon which were placed a few cannon, just arrived from 
the Hudson. Scarcely were these preparations made, 
when the panting fugitives appeared in sight, hotly pur- 
sued by the French and Indians. Intending to enter the 
camp with the fugitives, Dieskau urged forward his men 
with the greatest impetuosity. The moment the fugitives 
were past the muzzles of the cannon, they opened with 



250 HISTORY OF THE AMESICAS PEOPLE. 

f^AP. a tremendous shower of grape, whicli scattered the terrified 

Indians and checked the Canadians, hut the regulars 

1755. pushed on. A determined contest ensued, which lasted five 
hours, until the regulars were nearly all slain, while the 
Indians and Canadians did hut little execution ; they re- 
mained at a respectful distance among the trees. At 
length the enemy began to retreat, and the Americans 
leajjed over the breastwork and pursued them with great 
vigor. That same evening, after the pursuit had ceased, 
as the French were retreating, they were suddenly attack- 
ed with great spirit by the New Hampshire regiment, 
which was on its way from Fort Edward. They were so 
panic-stricken by this new assault, that they abandoned 
every thing, and fled for their lives. 

Dieskau had been wounded oiice or twice at the com- 
mencement of the battle, but he never left his post ; two 
of his soldiers generously attempted to carry him out of 
danger, but when in the act one of them received his death 
wound ; he urged the other to flee. In the midst of flying 
bullets he calmly seated himself on the stump of a neigh- 
boring tree. He was taken prisoner, kindly treated, and 
sent to England, where he died. 

Johnson was slightly wounded at the commencement 
of the battle, and prudently retired from danger. To 
General Lyman belongs the honor of the victory, yet John- 
son, in liis report of the battle, did not even mention his 
name. Johnson, for his exertions on that day, was made 
a baronet, and received from royal favor a gift of twenty- 
five thousand dollars. He had friends at court, but liyman 
was unknown. 

Colonel Ephraim Williams, who fell in this battle, 
while passing through Albany had taken the precaution 
to make his will, in which he bequeathed property to 
found a free school in western Massachusetts. That school 
has since grown into Williams College — a monument 



INDIAN VILLAGE OF KITTANNING DESTROYED. 251 



more honorable than one of granite, one fraught with chap 

blessings to future generations. 

Johnson, instead of pushing on to take advantage of the 1755 
victory, loitered in his camp, and finally built and garrison- 
ed a useless wooden fort, which he named William Henry. 

As has been mentioned, the retreat of Dunbar left the 
frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania subject to the hor- 
rors of savage warfare. Washington was intrusted with 
their defence, but so few men had he at his command, 
and they so scattered, as to afford but little protection. 
The distant settlers of Virginia were driven in, and the 
beautiful valley of the Shenandoah became almost a deso- 
lation. Grovernor Dinwiddle, as an apology for not furnish- 
ing more soldiers, wrote : " We dare not part with any 
of our white men to any distance, as we must have a 
watchful eye over our negro slaves." In one of his letters, 
, Washington says : " The supplicating tears of women 
and moving petitions of the men, melt me into such 
deadly sorrow, that for the people's ease, I could offer 
myself a willing sacrifice to the treacherous enerfiy." 

The village of Kittanning, twenty or thirty miles up 
the Alleghany, above Fort Du Quesne, was the head-quar- 
ters of a notable Indian chief, known as Captain Jacobs. 
Incited by the French, he and his bands made many mur- 
derous incursions against the settlements of Pennsylvania. 
His associate was the Delaware chief Shingis. Benjamin 
Franklin, who had been appointed colonel by the governor, 
had organized the Pennsylvania militia to protect the 
frontiers, and after his resignation, Colonel John Arm- 
strong, afterward a major-general in the Kevolutionary 
war, was chosen in his place. He resolved to destroy these 
Indians and their village. Three hundred Pennsylvanians 
volunteered for the enterprise. In the latter part of Sep- 
tember they set out on horseback, across the mountains, 
and in a few days came into the vicinity of Kittanning, at 



252 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, night. They heard the savages carousing and yelling ; 

'_ they left their horses, approached the village, and arranged 

1756 the order of attack. The night was warm, the Indians 
P soon began to separate, some to sleoj) in the corn-fields 
near by, and some in wigwams. As day began to dawn, 
the Americans surrounded the party, and, at a given sig- 
nal, rushed to the attack. The Indians were taken by 
surprise, but soon the voice of Jacobs was heard loud 
above the din, cheering on his waa'riors, and shouting, 
'• We are men, we will not be prisoners." The wigwams 
were set on fire, and warriors were heard singing their 
death-song in the midst of the flames. Jacobs attempted 
to break through the surrounding foe, but his career was 
cut short by a rifle-ball. This nest of savage murderers 
was entirely broken up ; the survivors" went further west, 
and for a season the frontiers had peace. 

Lord Loudon was appointed a sort of viceroy of all the 
colonies. He sent General Abercrombie as his lieutenant, 
having suspended Governor Shirley, and ordered him to 

June repair to England. Abercrombie arrived in June, and 
brought with him several British regiments. It was con- 
fidently expected that something important would now be 
done. These royal gentlemen had an army of seven thou- 
sand men at Albany, but, as the Frenchmen had said, 
they were " slow and dilatory," — they spent the summer 
in adjusting the rank of the officers. The soldiers of the 
colonies, though they had, by their indomitable courage, 
saved the remnant of the British army on the banks of 
the Monongahela ; though, at Lake George, they had 
driven the enemy before them, and had defended their 
soil and maintained the honor of the English name, yet 
they were not permitted to elect their own officers, and if 
they were appointed by the colonial governors, those of 
the same rank by royal appointment took the precedence. 
These were the petty annoyances dictated by little minds, 
that aided so much in alienating the colonists from the 



FORTS ONTAEIO AND WILLIAM HENRY CAPTURED. 253 

mother country, and in the end leading them to independ- ™'^'' 
ence. 

While the English were thus trifling, Montcalm, the 1750. 
successor of Dieskau, was acting. With five thousand 
Frenchmen, Canadians, and Indians, he darted across the 
lake, and suddenly presented himself at the gates of Fort 
Ontario, at the mouth of the Oswego. He met with a 
vigorous resistance ; not until they had lost all hope of 
receiving aid, and their brave commander, Colonel Mercer, 
was killed, did the garrison surrender. An immense ^yik^. 
amount of military stores fell into the hands of Montcalm ; I*, 
he sent the captured flags to adorn the churches of Can- 
ada, and to please the Iroquois, who promised neutrality, 
he demolished the fort.' Though it was known that this 
important post was threatened, yet no means were 
taken to relieve it. Thus Loudon planned and counter- 
plannel, accomplished nothing, and then withdrew from 
his arduous labors into winter-quarters. He demanded 
free quarters for his officers of the citizens of Albany, 
New York, and Philadelphia. As the demand was " con- 
trary to the laws of England and the liberties of America," 
they refused to accede to it. He threatened to bring his 
soldiers and compel them to submit to the outrage. Tlie 
citizens, in their weakness, raised subscriptions to support 
for the winter those who had wasted the resources of the 
country. Thus a military chief invaded, not merely the 
political rights of the people, but the sanctities of their 
domestic life. 

Montcalm was undisturbed in making preparations to 
capture Fort William Henry, before which he appeared, 1757 
the next year, with a large French and Indian force. The 
garrison numbered about three thousand men, under 
Colonel Monroe, a brave oificer, who, when summoned to 
surrender, indignantly refused, and immediately sent to 
General Webbe, at Fort Edward, fifteen miles distant, for 
aid. He could have reUeved Monroe, for he had four 



254 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, thousand men at his disposal, but when Putnam obtained 

permission to go to the aid of the fort, and had proceeded 

1757. some miles with his rangers, Webbe recalled him. Then 
he sent a letter to Monroe advising him to surrender. This 
letter fell into the hands of Montcalm, who was on the 
point of raising the siege, but he now sent the letter to 
Monroe, with another demand to surrender. The brave 
veteran would not capitulate, but held out till half his 
guns were rendered useless. Montcalm was too brave and 
generous not to appreciate nobleness in others, and he 
granted him the privilege of marching out with the honors 
„"■ of war. The only pledge he asked, was that the soldiers 
should not engage in war against the French for eighteen 
months. They were to retain their private property, and 
Canadian and Indian prisoners were to be restored. 

Montcalm held a council of the Indians, who consented 
to the terms of the treaty, though they were sadly dis- 
appointed in their hopes of plunder. He refused them 
rum, and thus he could restrain them ; but, unfor- 
tunately, the night after the surrender they obtained it 
from the English. In the morning they were frantic from 
the effects of intoxication, and when the garrison were 
leaving their camp, they fell upon the stragglers. The 
French officers did all they could to restrain them, and 
some were even wounded in their exertions to save the 
English soldiers from savage violence. Montcalm, in his 
agony, cried, " Kill me, but spare the English ; they are 
under my protection." Instead of an orderly retreat to 
Fort Edward, it was a flight. 

Thus the French, with a population in Canada, not 
one-twentieth part as great as tliat of the English colo- 
nies, seemed triumphant everywhere. Was it strange 
that the colonists began to lose their respect for those sent 
to protect them from their enemies — especially for the 
officers ? They believed the interference of the home gov- 
ernment hindered the advancement of their cause, while 



CANADA EXHAUSTED. 255 

the majority of tlie royalist governors seemed to be actu- ^^J'- 

ated by no worthier motive than that of promoting their 

own interests. 1757. 

Though the French were thus victorious, and pos- 
sessed the valleys of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi, 
and apparently all the continent, except a little strip 
along the Atlantic coast, yet Canada was exhausted. The 
struggle was virtually over. Her men had been drawn to 
the battle-field, while their farms were left untilled, and 
now famine was beginning to press upon the people. Their 
cattle and sheep were destroyed, and horse-flesh was made 
to supply the place of beef ; no aid could come from 
France, as nearly all intercourse was cut ofi' by the ever- 
present British cruisers. The French owed their success, 
not to their own strength, but to the imbecility of the 
English commanders. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, CONTINUED. 

Willhim Pitt, Prime Minister. — Lord Aniheist, Conimandpr-in-chief. — Plan 
of Operations. — Louisburg captured. — Abercronibie on Lalie George ; 
Repulse and Retreat. — Bradstreet captures Fort Froutenac. — Expedi- 
tion against Fort Du Quesne. — Colonel Grant. — Washington takes pos- 
session of the Fort ; resigns his Commission. — Ticonderoga abandoned ; 
the French retire to Canada. — Wolfe appears before Quebec. — Exer- 
tions of Montcalm. — The British on the Heights of Abraham. — The 
Battle. — Deaths of Wolfe and Montcalm; their Memories. — Quebec ca- 
pitulates. — The Cherokee War. — Destruction of their Crops and Villa- 
ges ; their Revenge. — Pontiac; his Character and Plans. — Desolations 
along the Frontiers. — General Bouquet. — Pontiac's Death. 

*^|'j The people of England were not indifferent spectators of 

these failures ; they noticed the feeble manner in which 

1757. the war was conducted, and attributed the want of success 
to the inefficiency of those in command. 

Through their influence William Pitt, one of them- 
selves, not of the aristocracy, was called to the head of 
affairs. He appreciated the character and j)atriofism of 
the colonists. Instead of devising measures that would 
impoverish them, he, at once, assumed the expenses of the . 
war ; announced that the money they had already spent 
for that purpose, should be refunded, and that for the fu- 
ture such expenses would be borne by the home govern- 
ment ; also arms and clothing should be furnished the 
soldiers who would enlist. This act of justice brought 
into the field fifty thousand men — a number greater than 
that of the entire male population of Canada at that 
time. 



PLAN OF OPERATIONS. 257 

Lord Jeffrey Amherst was appointed commander-in- ^^|,^- 

chief of the British army. He had for his lieutenant the 

young and talented James Wolfe, who, although but 1757- 
thirty-one years of age, had spent eighteen of those years 
in the army, where, by his noble bearing, he had won for 
himself the admiration of both friends and foes. 

According to the general plan, Amherst himself was 
to head the expedition against Louisburg and Quebec ; 
while General Forbes was to capture Fort Du Quesne and 
take possession of the valley of the Ohio, and Abercrombie 
to take Ticonderoga. the French stronghold on Lake 
Champlain. With Abercrombie was associated Lord 
Howe, who was characterized as the soul of the enterprise. June, 

On the 8th of June, Amherst landed with his forces 
near the city of Louisburg. Under the cover of a fire 
from the ships Wolfe led the first division. He forbade a 
gun to be fired, urged on the rowers, and in the face of 
the enemy leaped into the water, and followed by his men 
waded to the shore. The French deserted their outposts, 
and retired to the fortress in the town. After a bombard- 
ment of fifty days, when the French shipping in the harbor 
was destroyed, and all hopes of receiving assistance at an 
end, the fortress surrendered. At the same time were given j^j 
up the islands of Cape Breton and Prince Edward, five 27. 
thousand prisoners, and an immense amount of military 
stores. 

Abercrombie and Lord Howe advanced against Ticon- 
deroga. Their army, which amounted to seven thousand 
English and nine thousand Americans, assembled at the 
head of Lake George. They passed in flat-boats down 
to the foot of the lake, where they disembarked and hur- 
ried on toward Ticonderoga ; but through the ignorance 
of their guide, missed their way, and the advance fell j^, 
into an ambuscade of a French scouting party. The ene- 6. 
iny was soon put to flight, but Lord Howe fell at the head 
17 



258 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

i^iiAP. of Lis men. His death threw a gloom over the camp — the 

_i '. soldiers had confidence in no other loader. Their Ibre- 

1758. bodings were soon realized. The British engineer recon- 
noitred the French works, and reported them as weak ; 
but Stark, who knew their strength, affirmed they were 
strong and well furnished. Abercrombie believed his en- 
gineer, and without waiting for his artillery, he ordered an 
attack. His soldiers performed prodigies of valor, but 
were forced to retire, with a loss of two thousand of their 
number. In this battle was wounded Charles Lee, then 
a cajitain, and afterward a major-general in the Revolu- 
tionary army. The indefatigable Montcalm had disposed 
his small army to the very best advantage, and was pres- 
ent wherever he was specially needed. Abercrombie or- 
dered his men to attempt an impossibility, but judiciously 
kept himself out of danger. The Jlnglish army was yet 
four to one of the French, and could have conquered with 
the aid of the cannon which had been brought up, yet 
Abercrombie hastily retreated. As Montcalm's troops 
were few and exhausted, he did not attempt to pursue him. 
The monotony of disasters was disturbed by Colonel 
Bradstreet, of New York, who, after much solicitation, 
obtained permission to go against Fort Frontcnac, which, 
from its position at the foot of Lake Ontario, commanded 
that lake and the St. Lawrence. It was a central point 
for trading with the Indians ; a great magazine which 
supplied all the posts on the upper lakes and Ohio with 
military stores. With twenty-seven hundred men, all 
Americans, principally from New York and Massachu- 
setts, Bradstreet passed rapidly and secretly to Oswego, 
and thence across the lake in open boats, and landed 
All"-, within a mile of the fort. The majority of the garrison, 
2*5- terrified at the sudden appearance of enemies, fled ; the 
nest day the remainder surrendered. There was found 
an immense amount of military stores, some of them des- 
tined for Fort Du Quesne, and a fleet of nine armed ves- 



THE HIGHLANDERS ROUTED. 259 

sels, which held the commaud of the lake. The fort was S^^f 

razed to its foundation, two of the vessels were laden with '.^ 

stores and brought to Oswego ; tlie remaining stores and 1758. 
shijis were destroyed. 

The troops raised in Pennsylvania for the expedition 
under General Forbes against Fort Du Quesne were as- 
sembled at Kaystown, on the Juniata. Washington was 
at Cumberland, with the Virginia regiment. His j)lan 
was to march directly upon the fort by the road which 
Braddock had made. This common-sense plan was re- 
jected, and the suggestions of some land speculators 
adopted, and Forbes ordered a new road to be cut through, 
the wilderness further north. 

General Bouquet with the advance passed over the 
Laurel Hill, and established a post at Loyal "Hanna. 
Without permission he despatched Major Grant with 
eight hundred Highlanders and a company of Virginians 
to reconnoitre in the vicinity of Fort Du Quesne. Grant Sept, 
was permitted to approach unmolested, though the French ^^ 
knew from their scouts of all his movements. As he 
drew near, he sent a party to take a plan of the fort, and 
placed Major Lewis with the Virginians to guard the bag- 
gage, as if they were not to be trusted in the contest. 
Not a gun was fired from the fort. Grant self-compla- 
cently attributed this to the dread his regulars had in- 
spired. All this time the Indians lay quietly in ambush, 
waiting for the signal to commence the attack. Presently 
out rushed the garrison, and attacked the Highlanders in 
front, while in a moment the fearful war-whoop arose on 
both flanks. Terrified at the unusual contest, they were 
thrown into confusion ; their bewildered officers began to 
manoeuvre them as if in the open field. Major Lewis 
with some of his party hastened to the rescue, and there 
fought hand to hand with the savages. The detachment, 
overpowered by numbers, was completely routed, and 



260 HISTORY OF THE AMEBIC AST PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Grant and Lewis were both made prisoners. The fiigi- 
^ '_' tives soon reached the place where they left the baggage. 

1758. Captain Bullit hastily formed a barricade with the wag- 
ons, behind which he waited the approach of the pursuers. 
When they were within a few yards, the Virginians poured 
in a fire so direct and deadly as to check them. They 
soon rallied and again approached. This time, Cajttain 
Bullit and his men advanced, as if to surrender, but when 
within eight yards he again poured in an eifective fire, and 
immediately charged bayonet. The pursuere were so as- 
tonished at the suddenness and manner of attack that 
they fled in dismay, while the Virginians retreated with 
all speed. 

When the news of this disaster reached the main 
army, it well-nigh ruined the whole enterprise ; as a coun- 
cil of war decided to give up the attempt for that year, 
as it was now November, and there were yet fifty miles of 
unbroken forest between them and the fort. Just then 
some prisoners were brought in, from whom the defence- 
less condition of the fort was learned. Washington was 
given the command of a division with which to push for- 
ward. In a few days they arrived in the neighborhood of 
Du Quesne. Instead of meeting with a ^dgorous resist- 
ance, they were surprised to learn that the place had been 
abandoned the day before. The French commander had 
blown up his magazines, burned every building that would 
burn, and with his company gone on board of flat-boats 

Nov. aiif^l floated down the Ohio. On the twenty-fifth of No- 
25- vember, Washington marched into the deserted fort, and 
planted the English colors. An impulse of grateful feel- 
ing changed the name to Fort Pitt — since Pittsburg, in 
honor of the Ulustrious man — the first of English states- 
men, who appreciated the character of the American colo- 
nists, and who was willing to do them justice. Situated 
at the head of the Ohio, in a region celebrated for its agri- 
cultural and mineral wealth, and settled by a moral and 



PLAN OF OPERATIONS AGAINST CANADA. 261 

industrious population, it has far exceeded in importance 2^^^ 

any other acquisition made during the war. A fit monu- 

ment to the memory of the " Great Commoner," 1758. 

The object of the campaign thus secured, Washington, 
leaving two Virginia regiments to garrison the fort, re- 
signed his commission, and retired to private life. In the 
mean time he had been elected a member of the House of 
Burgesses. A few months afterward, on the opening of 
the session, the House, by vote, resolved to receive the 
youthful champion with some befitting manifestation of 
its regard. Accordingly, when he took his seat as a mem- 
ber, the Speaker addressed him, giv'ing him thanks for the 
military services he had rendered his country. Taken by 
surprise, Washington rose to reply, but words were want- 
ing ; he faltered and blushed. " Sit down, Mr. Washing- 
ton," kindly said the Speaker ; " your modesty equals 
your valor, and that surpasses the power of any language 
I possess." 

This year closed with great advantages to the English. 
The cunning Indians — still true to the winning side — be- 
gan to desert the French, and to form treaties of peace or 
neutrality with their enemies. The comprehensive mind 
of Pitt was devising plans to crush the French power in 
America. He promptly paid all the expenses incurred by 
the colonists during the past year, and they with alacrity 
entered into his schemes. Wolfe was to ascend the St. 
Lawrence ; Amherst was to advance by way of Lake Cham- 
plain, and capture Montreal, and then join Wolfe before 
Quebec ; while General Prideaux was to capture Fort Ni- 
agara, and then to pass down Lake Ontario to Montreal. 

As Amherst advanced against Ticonderoga, the French 1759. 
abandoned that post, and the others as he approached ; ■"^" 
he wasted his time in fortifying the places deserted by the 
enemy, as if they who were so exhausted as to be scarcely 
able to get out of his way, would ever return ! Though 
General Prideaux was unfortunately killed by the burst- 



262 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAIn" PEOPLE. 

^xxiii ^°^ ^^ ^ ^^'^' ^^^ ^^^ William Johnson, on whom the com- 

mand devolved, took Niagara ; and thus the chain which 

l75fi. joined the French forts of Canada, with those of the val- 
ley of the Mississippi, was broken forever. 
Juue The fleet and troops designed against Quebec, assem- 

bled at Louisburg. In the latter part of Jime the arma- 
ment arrived at the Isle of Orleans, upon which the troops 
immediately landed. The rock on which stood the citadel 
of St. Louis, could be seen to the west looming up more 
than three hundred feet, bidding defiance to the invaders. 
In the rear were the Heights of Abraham, a plain extend- 
ing for miles, whde all along the shore the high cliffs 
seemed to be an impregnable defence. 

To meet this force, Montcalm had only a few enfeebled 
battalions and Canadian militia. The Indians held them- 
selves aloof The English fleet consisted of twenty-two 
ships of the hue, and as many frigates. As master of one 
of these ships was Captain James Cook, afterward cele- 
brated as the discoverer of the many isles of the Pacific. 
Under Wolfe were four young and ardent commanders, 
Kobert Monckton, afterward governor of New York ; 
George Townshend, and James Murray, and also Colonel 
Howe, afterward Sir William, who for a time commanded 
the British army in the American Kevolution. 

Quebec, situated on a peninsula between the St. Law- 
rence and the fiver St. Charles, was defended on three 
sides by these rivers, leaving only the west exposed. The 
lower town was on the beach, while the upper was on the 
clifi' two hundred feet above. The high cliifs of the north 
shore of the St. Lawrence were deemed a sufiicient de- 
fence. It was thought impossible for an army to scale 
them. Below on the St. Lawrence, between the St. 
Charles and the Montmorenci rivers, was Montcalm's 
camp, guarded by many floating batteries and ships of 
war. But the naval superiority of the English soon ren- 
dered them masters on the water. 



THE RESOLVE TO SCALE THE HEIGHTS. 263 

The French troops were driven from Point Levi, di- ^^j'^'' 

rectly opjiosite Quebec, and Wolfe erected batteries on 

that spot, and began to bombard the lower town, which 1759. 
was soon reduced to ashes ; but owing to the distance, the 
fortress and the upper town could not be injured. Wolfe 
then passed over to the north side of the river, below the 
Montmorenci, intending to pass that stream, and force 
Montcalm to a battle. 

When this design was carried into effect, the first 
division, consisting of the grenadiers, rashly rushed on to 
storm the French lines before the second division could 
come up to support them. They were repulsed, with a 
loss of nearly five hundred men. Diversions were also 
made above the town to induce the enemy to come into 
the open field, but without success. Montcalm merely 
sent De Bougainville with fifteen hundred men to guard 
against these attacks. 

The repulse at Montmorenci occasioned the sensitive 
Wolfe much suffering. He looked for the tardy Amherst, 
but in vain ! No tidings came from him, and it seemed 
as if the enterprise, the first under his own command, 
was about to fail. He was thrown into a violent fever by 
his anxiety. As a last resort, it was resolved, in a coun- 
cil held around his bed, to scale the Heights of Abraham. 
In order to do this, the French must be deceived. There- 
fore Captain Cook was sent to take soundings and place 
buoys opposite Montcalm's camp, as if that was to be the 
special object of attack. Meantime, the shore for many 
miles above the town, was carefully examined. At one 
place was found a little indentation in the bank, from 
which a path wound up the clifi', — there they determined 
to make the attempt. This is now known as Wolfe's Cove. 
The troops were put on shipboard and suddenly sailed up 
the river, as if intending to pass beyond the French lines 
and there land. At night the ships lay to, and the troops, 
in boats, dropped down with the tide to Wolfe's Cove, fol- 



Julv. 



264 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, lowed by the ships designed to cover tlieir landing, if neces- 

^ '. sary. As they passed, a French sentinel hailed them with 

1759. the inquiry, " Who goes there .? " " La France," answer- 
ed a captain. " What regiment .? " " The Queen's "—that 
being one of the regiments up the river with Bougainville. 
The sentinel was deceived. They passed on to the Cove, 
and quietly landing began to grope their way up the cliff, 
clinging to the shrubs and rocks for support. In the 
morning the entire army was on the Heights of Abraham, 
ready for battle, 
gg^ Montcalm was thunderstruck, when he heard the news. 

3. " It must surely be," said he, " a small party come to 
pillage, and then retire." More correct information re- 
vealed to him the whole truth. There was no time to be 
lost. He sent immediately for the detachment of Bou- 
gainville, which was fifteen miles up the river. The 
Indians and Canadians advanced first, and subjected the 
English to an irregular, and galling fire. Wolfe ordered 
his men to reserve their fire for the French regvdars, who 
were rapidly approaching. When they were within forty 
yards, the Enghsh poured upon them a stream of musket- 
ry, aided by grape-shot from a few guns dragged up the 
cliff by the sailors. It was a fierce conflict. The respect- 
ive commanders were opposite to each other. Wolfe, al- 
though wounded twice, continued to give his orders with 
clearness ; but as he advanced with the grenadiers, who 
were to make their final charge with the bayonet, he re- 
ceived a ball in the breast. He knew the wound was 
mortal, and when falling said to the officer nearest to 
him ; " Let not my brave fellows see me fall." He was 
carried to the rear ; when asked if he would have a sur- 
geon, he auswered : " It is needless ; it is all -over with 
me." As his life was fast ebbing, the cry was raised — 
" See, they run ! they run ! " " Who run ! " asked the 
dying man. " The enemy, sir," was the answer. " Do 
they run already ? " he asked with evident surprise. Sum- 



WOLFE AND MONTCALM. 265 

moning his failing energies, " Go one of you, to Colonel ^^^j^- 

Burton," said he ; " tell him to march Webb's regiment 

with all speed down to Charles river, to cut off the retreat 1759. 
by the bridge." Then turning upon his side, he mur- f^_' 
mured, " Now God he praised, I die happy." These were 
the -last words of the young hero, in whom were centred 
the ho]3es of his soldiers and of his country. Monckton 
was severely wounded, and the command devolved upon 
Townshend, who, content with heing master of the field, 
called the troops from the pursuit. Just at the close of 
the battle Bougainville appeared with his division ; but 
the contest was declined. 

There is a peculiar interest attached to the name and 
character of Wolfe. A mind sensitive in its emotions and 
vigorous in its thoughts, animated his feeble body. He 
maintained a love for the quieter paths of literature, even 
amid the excitemeats of the camp. On the clear star- 
light night preceding the battle, as the boat in which he 
was seated with his ofiicers was silently floating down the 
St. Lawrence, .he recited to them that classic poem, 
Gray's " Elegy in a Countiy Church-yard ; " then just 
jiublished. Death seems to have already cast his dark 
shadow, upon him, and doubtless many of the finer pas- 
sages of the poem were in accordance with his subdued and 
melancholy emotions. Then for a time the aspirations 
of the man of feeling and poetic taste triumphed over the 
sterner amhition of the warrior, and at its close he ex- 
claimed : " I would rather be the author of that poem 
than to take Quebec to-morrow." 

The hrave and generous Montcalm was mortally 
wounded near the close of the battle. When carried into 
the city, the surgeon informed him that he could survive 
only a few hours. " So much the better," he calmly re- 
plied, " I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." 
When asked his advice about defending the city, he an- 



iS-ll 



vs. 



26G HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^Af^ swered : " To your keeping I commend tlie lionot of 

Xilll. ... 

Fiance. I will neither give orders nor interfere any fur- 

1759. ther ; I have business of greater moment to attend to ; 
my time is short ; I shall pass this night with God, and 
prepare myself for death." He then wrote a letter to the 
English commander, commending to his favor the French 
prisoners. The next morning he died. That generation 
passed away, and with it the animosity which existed be- 
tween the conquerors and the conquered. The united 
people of another generation erected a granite monument, 
on which they inscribed the names of Montcalm and 
Wolfe. 

Sept, Five days after the battle Quebec surrendered. There 

were great rejoicings both in America and England. 
Praises were lavished upon Pitt. He in Parliament re- 
plied, " I will aim to serve my country, but the more, a 
man is versed in business, the more he finds the hand of 
Providence everywhere." The next jcar an attempt was 
made by the French to recover Quebec, but it failed. An 
overwhelming force was brought against Montreal. Ke- 
sistance was vain, and Vaudreuil, the governor, surren- 
dered all the French stations on the Lakes. The troops 
were to be sent home, and the Canadians, protected in 
their property, were to enjoy their religious privileges. 
Thus passed away the French power in Canada. Depend- 
ents upon the mother country, the inhabitants had never 
exercised the right of self-government ; they lacked the 
energy essential to success as an independent people. 
They have assimilated but little with their conquerors. 
They still preserve that gay simplicity of manners, so 
characteristic of their nation, and an ardent attachment 
to the church of their fathers. 

Meantime disturbances had occurred on the southr 
west. The Cherokees had always been the friends of the 
English, and had undertaken to protect the frontiers soutli 
of the Potomac, yet for this their warriors, when about to 



WAR WITH THE CHEROKEES. 267 

return home, received no reward from the government — ^-^Jjf; 

not even supjjHes of food ibr their journey. What the 

State failed to do was done by Washington and his offi- 1758. 
cers, who supplied their wants. The next year more 
Cherokees joined the expedition under Forbes against , 
Fort Du Quesne. As they were returning home along 
the western borders of Virginia, to avoid starvation they 
helped themselves to what they wanted. This led to 
quarrels with the backwoodsmen, who killed and scalped 
some of their number. When this was told in the land 
of the Cherokees, it caused sorrow, indignation, and alarm ; 
the women, relatives of those who were slain, poured forth 
deep and bitter wailings for the dead ; the young warriors, 
indignant, armed themselves for revenge ; the old men 
cautioned and counselled, and did all in their power to 
prevent war, but in vain ; two white men fell victims to the 
rage of the young warriors. Tiftoe and iive other chieftains 
went to Charleston to beg for peace, and to heal differ- 
ences. The governor, the haughty and arbitrary Lyttle- 
ton, demanded that the young men who, according to the Oct. 
ideas of the sons of the forest, had vindicated the honor ' ° ■ 
of their nation, " should be delivered up or put to death 
in their own land." This, the Cherokees thought, would 
only add fuel to the flame already kindled. The legislature 
decided unanimously that there was no cause for war. 
News came from the frontier that all was peaceful ; 
" there were no bad talks." The obstinate governor jjer- 
sisted in his demand, and created more disturbance. Then 
he told the chiefs who wished for peace to come to him 
and hold a talk, and promised them safe conduct to and 
from Charleston. Trusting to his word, the great warrior 
Oconostata came with thirty others. But Lyttleton must 
obtain for himself the glory of a successful expedition 
against the Cherokees. He called out the militia in spite 
of the remonstrances of the people, of the legislature, and 
of his own council, and basely retained as prisoners, those 



238 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

xxm" '''^^ ^^^ trusted his word. He marched into the country 

of the Cherokees, forced a treaty from a feeble old chief, 

1759. who had no authority to make one, and then returned in 
fancied triumph. Oconostata and a few others were lib- 
erated. The remainder Lyttleton ordered to be kept pris- 
oners at Fort Prince George till twenty-four warriors 
should be given up to him. Oconostata made an attempt 
to liberate his friends. In this effort a white man was 
killed ; then, in revenge, the garrison murdered the pris- 
oners. Now the rage of the Cherokees knew no bounds. 
They exclaimed : " The spirits of our murdered brothers 
are flying around us screaming for vengeance." The leg- 
islature strongly condemned the perfidious conduct of 
Lyttleton, and asserted their " birth-rights as British 
subjects," and affirmed that he had " violated their un- 
doubted privileges." Yet this very man received the 
highest commendations from the " Board of Trade." 

The Cherokees, driven to desperation by such treat- 
ment, called to their aid the Muscogees, and sent to 
Louisiana for military supplies. The Carolinians applied 
to General Amherst, who sent them twelve hundred 
17(30. men, principally Highlanders, under General Montgomery. 
They, with the Carolinians, pressed forward, by forced 
marches, into the land of the Cherokees. Why give the 
details of desolated settlements ? Village after village 
was destroyed, and fertile valleys laid waste. On the 
upper Savannah was the beautiful vale of Keowee, " the 
delight of the Cherokees." They had become so far civil- 
ized as to build comfortable houses, and to surround them 
with cultivated fields. Suddenly appeared the invaders. 
The great majority of the Indians, after* an attempt at 
J ^ defence, fled, and fi-om the distant mountain-tops saw the 
enemy burning their houses and destroying their crops. 
" I cannot help pitying them a little," writes Colonel 
Grant ; " their villages are agreeably situated, their houses 



PONTIAC. 269 

neatly built. There were everywhere astonishing mas;a- chap 

•' . - o o win. 

zines of corn, which were all consumed." 

After this dash at the Cherokees, Montgomery imme- 1760. 
diately returned to the north, as ordered by Amherst. 
The Indians were not subdued, but enraged ; they con- 
tinued to ravage the back settlements of the Carolinas. 

Immediately after the surrender of Canada, all the 17G3. 
French stations on the lakes were occupied by the con- 
querors, and the httle stockade posts throughout all that 
region, and in the valley of the Ohio, were garrisoned by 
a few men, in many instances not exceeding twenty. The 
French, either as traders or as religious teachers, had won 
the confidence and the affection of the Indians, by a 
friendly intercourse extending through more than half a 
century. AVas it strange that the contrast appeared 
great to them, between these friends and companions and 
the domineering English soldiers, who insulted their priests 
and vilified their religion ? The French had prohibited 
the trade in rum, but the English introduced the traffic, 
and the demoralization of the Indians commenced. The 
capture of Fort Du Quesne was the signal for a torrent 
of emigration, which poured over the mountains into the 
valleys of the Monongahela and Alleghany. The Indians 
feared the pale-faces would drive them from their homes. 
Adopted into the tribe of the Ottawas, was a Catawba, 
who had been brought from the South as a prisoner, but 
who had, by his genius and bravery, risen to be a chief He 
had the most unbounded influence over his own and other 
tribes, and was styled " the king and lord of all the coun- 
try of the north-west." " How dare you come to visit my 
country without my leave ? " demanded he of the first Eng- 
lish- officer who came to take possession of the French forts. 
Such was Pontiac, the Philip of the north-west, who, in 
the war which bears his name, made the last great strug- 
gle for the independence of the Bed Man. This master 
spirit planned, and partially executeti, one of the most 



270 HISTOBT OF THE AHEEICAX PEOPLE. 

•^HAP. comprehensive schemes ever conceived by Indian sagacity 

to expel the invaders, and maintain his own authority as 

1768. " king and lord" of all that region. He induced the Del- 
awares, the Shawnees, the Senecas, the Miamis, and many 
lesser tribes, who roamed over the vast region in the basin 
of the upper lakes, in the valley of the Ohio, and a portion 
of that of the Mississijipi, to join in the conspiracy. He 
sent a prophet . through the land to proclaim that the 
Great Spirit had revealed to him, " that if the English 
were permitted to dwell in their midst, then the white 
man's diseases and poisons would utterly destroy them." 
This conspiracy was more than a year in foiming, yet it 
was kept a profound secret. 

Detroit had the largest garrison, was the great centre 
for the trade of the upper lakes, and most important in 
its influence. Here the French were numerous ; they 
tilled their farms, as well as engaged in the traffic of furs. 
Pontiac desired to obtain possession of the fort. He inti- 
mated that he was coming with his warriors to have a 
" talk " with his English brothers. Meantime, Gladwin, 
the commander, had learned of the conspiracy. Finding 
that the plot was discovered, Pontiac threw off the mask, 
and boldly attacked the fort, but without success. This 
was the commencement of a series of surprises ; the In- 
dians, in the short space of three weeks, captured every 
station west of Niagara, except Detroit and Pittsburg. 
The soldiers of the garrisons were nearly all put to death, 
more than one hundred traders were murdered and scalped 
in the wilderness, and more than five hundred families, 
after losing hundreds of their members, were driven from 
their homes on the frontiers. A large force from several 
tribes concentrated around Pittsburg, the most important 
post in the valley of the Ohio ; yet the brave garrison 
could not be caught by their wiles, nor conquered by their 
arms. Their ravages, in the mean while, extended to all 



INDIANS DEFEATED PITTSBURG RELIEVED. 271 

tlie settlements and posts on the head- waters of the Ohio, chap 

and on the lakes to the i-egion between the Mississippi 

and the Ohio. 1763. 

General Bouquet was sent from Eastern Pennsylvania 
to relieve Fort Ligonier, just at the western foot of the 
mountains, and Pittsburg. His army consisted of not 
more than five hundred effective men, principally Scotch 
Highlanders. They had with them a train of wagons, 
drawn by oxen, and pack-liorses laden with miUtary stores 
anci necessary provisions, and a drove of beef cattle. 
Passing through a region desohxted by the savages, they 
saw the remains of burnt cabins, and the harvests stand- 
ing uncut in the fields. 

When he arrived at Ligonier, Bouquet could learn 
nothing from the west, as all intercourse had been cut off. 
Leaving there his wagons and cattle, he pushed forward 
to ascertain the fate of Pittsburg. The Indians besieging 
that place, heard of his approach, and they resolved to 
place themselves in ambush, and defeat his army. As 
soon as the battle began, the Highlanders dashed at them 
with the bayonet, and the Indians fled ; but when the 
pursuit slackened they rallied, and were again repulsed. 
At length, the number of the savages increased so mucli 
that they completely surrounded the Highlanders, who, 
during the night, encamped on the ridge of a hill. In the 
morning they could not advance, for their wounded men 
and baggage would fall into the hands of the enemy. 
Placing two companies in ambush. Bouquet began to re- 
treat, and immediately, with exulting yells, the Indians 
rushed on in pursuit, but when they came to the right 
point, those in ambush charged them on both sides, and 
those retreating wheeled and charged also. Panic-stricken 
by the suddenness of the attack, the savages broke and 
tied. The division then moved on to Pittsburg. From 
that day the valley of the Ohio was free from Indian vio- 



272 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

vvm' ^'^^'^^- '^^^ stream of emigration began again to pour 

over the mountains. The tribes, disheartened, began to 

1764. make treaties and promise peace. Pontiac would make 

no treaty, nor acknowledge himself a friend of the English. 

He left his home and tribe and went to the country of the 

Illinois, where he perished by the hand of an assassin, who 

'' was hired for the purpose. 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COLONISTS. 

Religious Influences among the earlier Settlers. — The later Emigrants ; their 
Influence. — Love of domestic Life. — Laws enjoining Morality. — Sys- 
tems of Education ; Common Schools. — John Calvin. — The Southerner ; 
the Northerner. — The Anglo-Saxon Element ; the Norman. — Influences 
in Pennsylvania ; in New Torli. — Diversity of Ancestry. 

The conquest of Canada had removed apprehensions of chap. 

. XXIV. 

war with France, or of incursions by the Indians. The _J '_ 

colonists naturally turned to their own affairs. They 1760. 
were poor and in debt ; a seven years' war had been within 
their borders ; their men had been drawn from the labor 
of industry to the battle-field. Yet that war, with its 
evils, had conferred benefits. It had made known to them 
their strength, and success had given them confidence. 

Before relating the events that led to the Revolution, 
let us take a rapid survey of the people, who were soon to 
take their place among the nations of the earth. 

From the first they were an intelligent and a religious 
people. They were untrammelled in the exercise of their 
religion, and its spirit moulded public sentiment in all 
the colonies, whether settled by the Puritan or the Church- 
man, by the Dutch Calvinist or the Quaker, by the 
Huguenot or the Scotch-Irish Presbyterian. The two 
latter were of more recent emigration ; they did not di- 
minish the high tone of morals already sustained by the 
earlier settlers. 

18 



274 HISTORT OF THE AMERICAN" PEOPLE. 

CHAP. The Huguenots came iu small companies, and seldom 

\ settled together in large numbers, but mingled with the 

]760. colonists, and conformed more and more to their customs, 
and, in time, became identified with them in interests. 
Calvinists in doctrine, they generally united with either 
the Episcopal or Presbyterian churches, and by their piety 
and industrious habits exerted an influence that amply 
repaid the genuine hospitality with which they were every- 
where received. 

The Scotch-Irish Presbyterians displayed the indomi- 
table energy and perseverance of their ancestors, with the 
same morality and love of their church. Even those who 
took post on the outskirts of civilization along the western 
frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North 
Carolina, had their pastor, and trained their children in 
Bible truth, in the catechism, obedience to parents, — 
a wholesome doctrine practically enforced by all the colo- 
nists, — and reverence for the Sabbath and its sacred duties. 
They were a people decided in their character. They 
emigrated from their native land to enjoy civil and relig- 
ious privileges, but they had also an eye to the improve- 
ment of their temporal affairs. 

The endearments of home and of the domestic fireside 
had charms for the colonists of every creed. The educa- 
tion of their children was deemed a religious duty, while 
around their households clustered the comforts and many 
of the refinements of the times. The example of their 
ancestors, who had sought in the wilderness an asylum, 
where they might enjoy their religion, had not been in 
vain ; a traditionary religious spirit had come down from 
those earlier days, and now pervaded the minds of the 
people. 

Though there was neither perfect uniformity in their 
forms of worship, nor in their interijretation of religious 
doctrines, yet one sentiment was sacred in the eyes of all — 
a reverence for the day of Holy Rest. The influences 



LAWS ENJOINING MORALITY. 275 

connected with the Sabbath, and impressed from week to c^^^'' 

week, penetrated their inner life, and like an all-pervading 

moral antiseptic preserved, in its purity, the religious 1760. 
character of the entire people. 

The laws of a people may be taken as the embodiment 
of their sentiments. Those enacted by our forefathers 
may excite a smile, yet they show that they were no time- 
servers — that they were conscientious and in earnest. 

In New England the laws noticed those who dressed 
more richly than their wealth would justify ; they would 
not permit the man who defrauded his creditors to live in 
luxury ; those who did not vote, or would not serve when 
elected to office, they fined for their want of patriotism ; 
they forbade " drinking of healths as a bad habit ; " they 
•^jrohibited the wearing of embroidered garments and laces ; 
they discouraged the use of " ribbons and great boots ; " 
sleeves must reach to the wrist, and not be more than 
half an eU wide ; no one under twenty years of age was 
allowed to use tobacco, unless prescribed by a physician ; 
those who used it publicly were fined a sixpence ; all per- 
sons were restrained from " swimming in the waters on 
the Sabbath-day, or unreasonably walking in the fields or 
streets." 

In Virginia we see the same spirit. In every settle- 
ment there was to be "a house for the worship of God." 
Divine service was to be in accordance with the canons of 
the Church of England. Absence from church was pun- 
ished by a fine ; the wardens were sworn to report cases 
of " drunkenness, swearing, and other vices." The drunk- 
ards were fined, the swearers also, at the rate of " a shil- 
ling an oath ;" slanderers and tale-bearers were j)unished ; 
travelling or shooting on the Sabbath forbidden. The 
minister was not to addict himself "to excess in drinking 
or riot, nor play cards or dice, but to hear or read the 
Holy Scriptures, catechize the children, and visit the 
sick." The wardens were bound to report the masters 



276 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICA2S' PEOPLE. 

CUAP. and mistresses " who neglected to catecliize the ignorant 

. persoHs under their charge." In the Carolinas laws of a 

1760. similar character were enacted ; and, in Pennsylvania, 
against " stage plays, playing of cards, dice, May-games, 
masques, and revels." 

Although, at the time of which we write, many of 
these, and similar laws had become obsolete, yet the influ- 
ences which dictated them had, for one hundred and fifty 
years, been forming the character of the colonists. Hedged 
in on the one side by the ocean, and on the other by 
a howling wilderness filled with hostUe savages, they 
acquired a certain energy of character, the result of 
watchfulness, and an individuality, which to this day dis- 
tinguishes their descendants. 

While emigrants were flocking to the colonies, thesa 

influences were somewhat disturbed, but for three-quarters 

1688. of a century — since the great revolution in England had 

restrained the hand of oppression — emigration had been 

gradually diminishing. 

Thus uninfluenced from without, the political and re- 
ligious principles with which they were imbued had time 
to produce their fruit. A national sentiment, a oneness 
of feeling among the people, grew into vigorous being. 
The common schools of New England had exerted their 
undivided influence for almost three generations ; the 
youth left them with that conscious self-reliance which 
springs spontaneously in the intelligent mind — a pledge 
of success in things great as well as small. These schools, 
no doubt, gave an impulse to female education. In the 
earlier days of New England the women were taught to 
read, but very few to write. " The legal papers executed 
in the first century (of the colony) by well-to-do women, 
were mostly signed by a mark, (X ) ".' The custom of 

' Elliott's History of New England, vol. i p. 428. 



EDUCATION — FKEE INQUIRY AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 2V7 

settling in townships or villages made it easy to support ^j"^' 
common schools. ■ 

In the middle colonies, especially Pennsylvania and 1760. 
New York, a system of general education had not been 
introduced ; the diversity of sects prevented. In the 
South, except partially in Maryland, common schools were 
not adopted. The owners of slaves usually held large 
tracts of the best lands, while the less wealthy were com- 
pelled to retire to the outskirts of the settlements, where 
they could obtain farms. The population was thus so 
much scattered, that generally children could not be con- 
centrated at particular places in sufficient numbers to 
sustain schools. Those who, for want of means, could not 
employ private teachers, taught their own children as best 
they could. Among this class, from year to year, there 
was but little increase in general intelligence. The 
wealthy employed private instructors, or sent their chil- 
dren abroad. As the nation increased in knowledge, the 
people cherished the right to exercise free thought and 
free sjieech. 

Our ancestors lived not for themselves alone. With 
the prophet's vision, and the patriot's hope, they looked 
forward to the day, when all this continent would be un- 
der the influence of their descendants, and they a Chris- 
tian people. Was it strange they were self-denying and 
in earnest, in endeavoring to spread the blessings of 
education and religion, as the greatest boon they could 
transmit to their posterity .? Thus they labored to found 
institutions of learning ; they encouraged the free ex- 
pression of opinion. From the religious freedom of con- 
science, which they proclaimed as the doctrine of the 
Bible, the transition was easy to political freedom. The 
advocate of free inquiry became the advocate of civil lib- 
erty, and the same stroke which broke the chain binding 
the word of God to the iuterj^retation of the church, shat- 
tered the fetters binding the political slave. 



278 HISTOET OF THE AilERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Much of this sentiment may be traced to the influence 

xxiv. , , . . 

exerted by the opinions of one man, John Calvin. " We 

1 760. boast of our common schools, Calvin was the father of 
IMpular education, the inventor of free schools. The pil- 
grims of Plymouth were Calvinists ; the best influence of 
South Carolina came from the Calvinists of France. Wil- 
liam Penn was the disciple of the Huguenots ; the ships 
from Holland that first brought colonists to Manhattan 
were filled with Calvinists. He that will not honor the 
memory and lespect the influence of Calvin, knows but 
little of the origin of American libertj'. He bequeathed 
to the world a republican spirit in religion, wiih the kin- 
dred principles of republican liberty." ' 

There were slight differences of character between thu 
people of the several colonies. In the eastern, the difii- 
culties arising from a sterile soil had made the people 
industrious and frugal. There, labor was always honorable, 
and when the day came " which tried men's souls," great 
numbers of the prominent men came from the ranks of 
manual labor. The Anglo-Saxon element greatly pre- 
dominated amoncr the colonists of New England. As 
simple in manners as rigid in morals, a truly democratic 
spirit and love of liberty pervaded their minds, and hence 
political constitutions of whose benefits all were partici- 
pants. The Norman element prevailed more in the South, 
especially in Virginia. Here the wealthy colonists were 
more aristocratic in spirit and feeling ; were more refined 
and elegant in manners. This aristocratic spirit was fos- 
tered, in time, by the system of slavery, while the dis- 
tinctions in society arising from the possession of wealth 
were greatly increased. In all the southern colonies, the 
mildness of the climate, the labor of slaves, and the ready 
sale of their tobacco, rice, and indigo, made the acquisition 
of wealth comparatively easy. The planter, " having 

' Bancrofl'8 Miscellanies, pp. 40.5-G. 



INFLUENCES IN PENNSYLVANIA. 



279 



more leisure, was more given to pleasures and amuse- chap. 

ments — to the sports of the turf, the cock-pit, the chase, . 

and the gaming-table. His social habits often made him iTfin. 
profuse, and plunged him in debt to the English or Scotch 
merchant, who sold his exported products and furnished 
him his foreign supplies. He was often improvident, and 
sometimes not punctual in his pecuniary engagements." • 
The planters were hospitable. Living upon isolated plan- 
tations, they were in a measure deprived of social inter- 
course ; but when opportunity served, they enjoyed it 
with a relish. As the Si^utherner was hospitable, so the 
Northerner was charitable. From the hard earnings of the 
farmer, of the mechanic, of the merchant, of the seafaring 
man, funds were cheerfully given to support schools, to 
endow colleges, or to sustain the ordinances of the gospel. 
In the South, colleges were principally endowed by royal 
grants. 

In Pennsylvania was felt the benign influence of the 
disciples of George Fox, and its benevolent founder. The 
friends of suffering humanity, the enemies of war, the 
opponents of classes and ranks in society founded on mere 
birth, they recognized merit wherever found. There the 
human mind was untrammelled — conscious of a right de- 
rived from a higher authority than conventional law ; 
there public posts were open to all — no tests intervened 
as a barrier. At this time the ardent aspirations of Ben- 
jamin Franklin in the pursuit of science received the 
sympathy of the people. In Philadelphia he was the 
means of founding an academy and free school, which grew 
into a university. Here was founded the first medical col- 
lege in the colonies, the first public library, and the first 
hospital. Here, Bartram, the botanist, founded the first 
botanic garden ; and here was formed the American Phil- 
osophical Society. Here lived Godfrey, the inventor of 
the quadrant, which bears the name of Hadley. 

' Tucker's History of the United States, vol. i, p. 97. 



280 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CTM- 1,1 New York, " the key of Canada and the lakes," 

were blended many elements of character. Here com- 

1760. merce began to prevail, and here the arbitrary laws of the 
Board of Trade were vigorously opposed, and so often 
eluded, that Holland derived more benefit from the • trade 
than England herself. It cost nearly as much as the 
amount of the import duties to maintain the cruisers and 
the " Commissioners of Customs." The " Dutch Repub- 
licans " had been for nearly a century pupils in the school 
where the " rights of Englishmen " were taught ; they 
profited so much by the instruction, that they paid very 
little attention to the king's prerogative, and thought 
their own Legislature quite as respectable as the House of 
Commons. 

Although the great majority of the Americans were 
the descendants of Englishmen, yet there were represent- 
atives from Scotland, from Ireland, fi-om Wales, from 
France, from Holland, from Germany, from Sweden, and 
from Denmark. In religion, there were Churchmen and 
Dissenters, Quakers and Catholics. Though they differed 
in many minor points, and indulged in those Httle ani- 
mosities which unfortunately too often arise between peo- 
ple of different nations and religions, yet they cherished a 
sympathy for each other. They were aU attached to the 
mother country — the South, jjerhaps, more than the North; 
the former had not experienced so severely the iron hand 
of royal rule. Some strong external pressure was required 
to bind them more closely together, if ever they were to 
become an independent nation. That external pressure 
was not long wanting. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE REVOLUTION. 

ResU-ictions of Trade and Manufactures. — Taxes imposed by Parliament. — 
Writs of Assistance. — James Otis. — Samuel Adams. — The "Parsons'" 
Case in Virginia. — Patrick Henry. — A Stamp Tax threatened. — Colonel 
Barre's Speech. — The Stamp Act. — Excitement in the Colonies. — Henry 
in the House of Burgesses. — Resolutions not to use Stamps. — " Sons 
of Liberty." — A Call for a Congress ; it meets, and the Colonial As- 
senjblies approve its Measures. — Merchants refuse to purchase English 
Merchandise. — Self-denial of the Colonists. — Pitt defends them. — 
FranliUn at tlie Bar of the House of Commons. — Stamp Act repealed. — - 
. Rejoicings. — Dartmouth College. 

The industrious habits of the colonists were no less wor- *^^?' 

thy of notice than their moral traits. The contest with 

the mother country had its origin in her attempts to de- l'i'50. 
prive them, by means of unjust laws, of the fruits of their 
labor. For one hundred years she had been imposing 
restrictions on their trade and domestic manufactures. 
They were treated as dep. ndants, and inferiors who 
occupied " settlements established in distant parts of the 
world for the benefit of trade." They could purchase 
from England alone, and only to her market could they 
send their products. That English merchants might 
grow rich at their expense, the products of Europe and 
Asia were first to be landed in England, and then re- 
shipped to America iu British vessels. The only trade 
not thus taxed, was that of negroes, they being shipped 
directly from Africa — a trade against which all the colo- 
nies earnestly, but in vain, protested. Even the trees 



282 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, in the forest suitable for masts were claimed by the 

l^ing, and marked by his " Surveyor-General of Woods." 

1750. " Eolling mills, forges, or tilt-hammers for making iron," 
were prohibited as " nuisances." The House of Commons 
said " that the erection of manufactories in the colonies 
tended to lessen their dependency upon Great Britain ; " 
and the English ship-carpenters complained " that their 
trade was hurt, and their workmen emigrated, since so 
many vessels were built in New England." The hatter, 
because he could obtain his fur from the Indians without 
sending to England, was not permitted to sell hats out of 
his own colony. No manufacturer was permitted to ha\ e 
more than two apprentices. The government was unwil- 
ling that the colonists should make for themselves a single 
article which the English could supply. 

These measures aroused a spirit of oppositionj. more 
especially among the frugal and industrious inhabitants 
of New England, whose manufactures, fisheries, and trade 
were almost ruined. There the people mutually agreed 
to buy of British manufacturers only what was absolutely 
necessary ; rather than i>aj the English merchant exorbi- 
tant prices, they would deprive themselves of every luxurJ^ 
Families determined to make their own linens and wool- 
lens, and to abstain from eating mutton, and preserve the 
sheep to furnish wool. It became fashionable, as well as 
honorable, to wear homesp' .n. Associations were formed 
to promote domestic manufactures. On the anniversary 
of one of these, more than three hundred young women 
met on Boston Common, and devoted the day to si^inning 
flax. The graduating class of Harvard College, not to be 
outdone in patriotism, made it a point on Commencement 
Day to be clad in homespun. Kestrictions on trade did not 
affect the interests of the people of the South so mucli, 
as England could not dispense with their tobacco, rice, 
and indigo, and they had scarcely any manufactories. 
1763. Before the close of the French war, it was intimated 



WRITS OF ASSISTANCE. 



283 



that England intended to tax the colonies, and make ^^^^^• 

them hear a portion of the hurdens hrought upon herself 

hy the mismanagement of her officials. Many plans were 1T63. 
discussed and laid aside. Meantime the colonists denied 
the right of Parliament to tax them without granting 
them, in some form, representation in the government ; 
they claimed a voice in the disposal of their money. They 
looked back upon their history, and were unable to dis- 
cover the obligations they owed the king. They loved to 
think of Old England as the " home " of their fathers ; 
they rejoiced in her glories and successes, and never 
dreamed of separating from her, until driven to that re- 
solve by oppression. Yet visions of greatness, and it may 
be of indejjendence, were floating through the minds of 
the far-seeing. John Adams, when a youth, had already 
written : " It looks likely to me, for if we can remove the 
turbulent Gallicks, our people, according to the exactest 
computations, will in another century become more nu- 
merous than England itself Should this be the case, 
since we have, I may say, all the naval stores of the nation 
in our hands, it will be easy to obtain the mastery of the 
seas ; and then the united force of all Europe will not be 
able to subdue us." ' 

A special effort was now made to enforce the naviga- 
tion laws, and to prevent the colonists from trading with 
other nations. This policy would have converted the en- 
tire people into a nation of smugglers and law-breakers, 
but for the strong religious influences felt throughout the 
laud. 

To enforce these laws. Parliament gave authority for 
using general search warrants, or " Writs of Assistance." ivei. 
These Writs authorized any sheriff or officer of the 
customs to enter a store or private dwelling, and search 
for foreign merchandise, which he suspected had not paid 

'Life and Writings, vol. i. p. 23. 



284 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAK PEOPLE. 

™AP. duty. The quiet of the domestic fireside was no longer 

to he held sacred. These Writs, first used in Massa- 

1761. chusetts, caused great excitement and opposition. Their 
legality was soon hrought to the test in a court of justice. 
On this occasion the eloquent James Otis sounded the 
note of alarm. He was the Advocate for the Admiralty, 
whose duty it was to argue in favor of the Writs ; but he 
resigned, in order to plead the cause of the people. The 
royaHst lawyer contended that the power of Parliament 
was supreme, and that good subjects ought to submit to 
its every enactment. In reply, Otis .exclaimed : " To my 
Feb. clying day, I wiU oppose, with aU the power and faculties 
God has given me, all such instruments of slavery, on the 
one hand, and villany on the other." His stirring elo- 
quence gave an impulse to public opinion, which aroused 
opposition to other acts of Parliament. " Then and 
there," says John Adams, " was the first opjiosition to 
arbitrary acts of Great Britain. Then and there Ameri- 
can Independence was born." The writs were scarcely 
ever enforced after this trial. 

Of the leading men of the times, none had greater in- 
fluence than Samuel Adams — in his private life, the 
devout Christian ; in his public life, the incorruptible 
patriot. In him the spirit of the old Puritans seemed to 
linger : mild in manners, living from choice in retire- 
ment, incapable of an emotion of fear, when duty called 
him to a post of danger. Learned in constitutional law, 
he never went beyond its limits. Through his influence 
Boston expressed her opinions, saying, " We claim Brit- 
ish rights, not by charter only — we are born to them. If 
we are taxed without our consent, our property is taken 
without our consent, and then we are no more freemen, 
but slav-es." And she invited all the colonies to join in 
obtaining redress. The same note of alarm was sounded 
in Virginia, in New York, in Connecticut, and in the 
Carolinas. Thinking minds saw in the future the coming 



THE king's PREEOGATIVE PATRICK HENRY. 285 

contest ; that the English ministry would persist in their chap. 

unjust treatment, until, in self-defence, they had driven 

the whole American people to open rebellion. " They 1761. 
wish to make us dependent, but they will make us inde- 
pendent ; these opjjressions will lead us to unite and thus 
secure our liberty." Thus wrote Richard Henry Lee, of 
Virginia. " Oh ! poor New England," exclaimed the elo- 
quent George Whitefield, " there is a deep-laid plot 
against your liberties ; your golden days are ended." 

The first collision in Virginia between the prerogative 176.3. 
of the king and the authority of the legislature occurred '*'■'"• 
in a county court. Tobacco was the legalized currency 
of the colony. Occasionally, untoward events, such as 
war, or failure of the crop, made payments in tobacco very 
burdensome. The legislature passed a law, authorizing 
debtors to pay their public dues in money, at the rate of 
twopence a pound for the tobacco due. The clergymen 
of the established church refused to acquiesce*in the law ; 
they had a fixed salary of a certain number of pounds of 
tobacco a year. At their instance, Sherlock, the Bishop 
of London, used his influence and persuaded the king to 
refuse his signature to this law. " The rights of the cler- 
gy and the authority of the king must stand or fall 
together," said the Bishop. The law was therefore null 
and void. 

To test it, a clergyman named Maury brought a suit 
to recover damages, or the difference between twopence 
per pound and the higher price for which tobacco was 
selling. It became the cause of the people on the one 
side, and the cause of the clergy and of the king's pre- 
rogative on the other. The people engaged a young man 
of twenty-seven to plead against " the parsons." 

That young man was Patrick Henry. He belonged 
not to the aristocracy, and was obscure and unknown. 
On this occasion, that rare and wonderful gift of eloquence, 
which has made us so familiar with his name, was first 



286 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, displayed. He possessed a cliarm of voice and tone that 

, fliscinated his hearers ; a grasp of thought, a vividness of 

1763. conception, and withal a power that allured into sympath)' 
with his own sentiments the emotions of his audience. 
For this he was indebted to nature, not to education ; for, 
when a boy, he broke away from the restraints of school 
and the drudgery of book-learning, to lounge idly by 
some solitary brookside with hook and line, or in more 
active moods to dash away into the woods to enjoy the ex- 
citements of the chase. He learned a little of Latin, of 
Greek not more than the letters, and as little of mathe- 
matics. At eighteen he married, engaged in trade, and 
failed ; tried farming with as little success ; then read 
law six weeks, and was admitted to the bar. Yet the 
mind of this young man had not been idle ; he lived in a 
world of deep thought ; he studied men. He was now to 
appear for the first time as an advocate. 

The wl^ole colony was interested in the trial, and the 
court-room was crowded with anxious spectators. Maury 
made objections to the jury; he thought them of "the 
vulgar herd," " dissenters," and " New Lights." " They 
are honest men," rejoined Henry. The court overruled 
the insulting objections, and the jury were sworn. 

The casp was plainly against him, but Henry con- 
tended th'e law was valid, and enacted by competent au- 
thority ; he fell back upon the natural right of Virginia 
to make her own laws, independently of the king and par- 
liament. He jiroved the justness of the law ; he sketched 
the character of a good king, as the father, of his people, 
but who, when he annuls good laws becomes a tyrant, and 
forfeits all right to obedience. At this doctrine, so new, 
so daring, the audience seemed to stand aghast. " He 
has spoken treason," exclaimed the opposing counsel. A 
few joined in the cry of Treason ! treason ! Yet the jury 
brought in a verdict for the " parsons" of a penny dam- 
ages. 



THE STAMP ACT. 287 

I 

Henry denied the right of the king to aid in making ^^^• 

laws for the colonies. His argument applied not only to 

Virginia, but to the continent. The sentiment spread 17G3. 
from colony to colony. 

Parliament assumed the right to tax the Americans, 
and paid no attention to their protests, but characterized 
them as " absurd," " insolent," " mad." When they ex- 
postulated with GrenviUe, the Prime Minister, he warned 
them that in a contest with England they would gain 
nothing. The taxes must be levied at all events ; and 
he graciously asked if there was any form in which they 
would rather pay them than by means of the threatened 
stamps. These were to be affixed to all documents used 
in trade, and for them a certain impost duty was charged. 
Only the English merchants whose interests were involved 
in the American trade, appear to have sympathized with 
the colonists. Franklin, who was then in London as agent 
for the Assembly of Pennsylvania, wrote home : " Every 
man in England regards himself as a piece of a sovereign 
over America, seems to jostle himself into the throne 
with the king, and talks of our subjects in the colonies." 

The Stamp Act did not pass without a struggle. Dur- ^'^^^ 
ing these discussions. Colonel Barre, who, in the war 
against the French, was the friend and companion of 
Wolfe, charged the members of the House of Commons 
with b6ing ignorant of the true state of the colonies. 
When Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer, asked the question, " Will our American chil- 
dren, planted by our care, nourished by our indulgence, 
and protected by our arms, grudge to contribute their mite 
to relieve us from our burdens .'' " Barre indignantly re- 
plied : " They planted by your care ! No, your oppres- 
sions planted them in America. They fled from your 
tyranny to an uncultivated, inhospitable country ; where 
they exposed themselves to almost every hardship, and to 
the cruelties of the savage foe. They nourished by your 



288 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, indulgence ! They grew by your neglect ; your oare for 

them was to send persons to rule them ; deputies of dep- 

1765. uties, to some members of this house, sent to spy out their 
liberties, to misrepresent their actions, and to prey upon 
them ; men who have caused the blood of those sons of 
liberty to recoil within them. They protected by yonr 
arms ! They have nobly taken up arms in your defence. 
Amidst their constant and laborious industry they have 
defended a country whose frontiers were drenched in blood, 
while its interior settlements yielded all their little savings 
to your emoluments. I speak the genuine sentiments of 
my heart. They are a people as truly loyal as any sub- 
jects of the king ; they are jealous of their liberties, and 
will vindicate them, if ever they should be violated." 

But very few of the members of the house were thus 
liberal in their sentiments. The great majority looked 
upon the colonies as subservient to the rule of the mother 
country. It was the express intention of the ministry 
" to be very tender in taxing them, beginning with small 
duties and taxes," and advancing as they found them 
willing to bear it. 

The House of Commons, on March 22d, passed the 
Stamp Act by a majority of nine to one ; ten days after- 
ward it passed the House of Lords almost unanimously. 
The king was ill ; mystery whispered of some unusual 
disease. When George III. signed the Stamp 'Act, he 
was not a responsible being — he was insane. 

This act declared that every written agreement be- 
tween persons in trade, to be valid, must have affixed to 
it one of these stamps. Their price was in proportion to 
the importance of the writing ; the lowest a shilling, and 
thence increasing indefinitely. Truly this " was to take 
money without an equivalent." AH business must be 
thus taxed, or suspended. 

In order to enforce this act, Parliament, two months 
afterward, authorized the ministry to send as many troops 



RESOLUTIONS OF THE VIRGINIA ASSEMBLY. 289 

as tliey Scaw proper to America. For these soldiers the chat 

colonies were required to find " qiiarters, fuel, cider or 

rum, candles, and other necessaries." 1705. 

The news of the passage of these arbitrarx' laws threw 
the people into a ferment. They became acquainted with 
each other's views ; the subject was discussed in the news- 
papers, was noticed in the pulpits, and became the en- 
grossing topic of conversation in social intercourse. In 
the Virginia Assembly, Patrick Henry introduced resolu- 
tions declaring that the people of Virginia were only bound 
to pay taxes imposed by their own Legislature, and any 
person who maintained the contrary should be deemed an 
enemy of the colony. An exciting debate followed, in 
which the wonderful jiower of Henry in describing the 
tyranny of the British government swayed the majority 
of the members. In the midst of one of his bursts of 
eloquence he exclaimed : " Cfesar had his Brutus, Charles 
I. his Cromwell, and George III. " — " Treason !■ trea- May. 
son ! " shouted the Speaker, and a few others joined him 
in the cry. Henry fixed his ej'e upon the Speaker, and 
in the tone and emphasis peculiar to himself, continued, 
" may profit by their example. If that be treason, make 
the most of it." The resolutions passed, but the next 
morning, in Henry's ab.sence, the timid in the Assembly 
rescinded the last, and modified the others. The governor 
immediately dissolved the house for this free expression of 
opinion. Meantime, a manuscript cojiy of the resolutions 
was on its way to Philadelphia, where they were speedily 
printed and sent throughout the country. They raised 
the drooping spirits of the people, who determined to neu- 
tralize the law — they would never use the stamps. 

The Legislature of Massachusetts resolved that the 
courts should conduct their business without their use. 
Golden, the royalist governor of New York, thought 
" that the presence of a battalion would prevent mis- 
eliief ; " Imt the council suggested, "it would be more 
19 



290 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



CHAP, 
XXV. 



safe for the government to show a confidence in the peo- 
ple." " I will cram the stamps down their throats with 
1765. my sword," said an officer. The churchmen preached 
obedience to the king — the " Lord's anointed." William 
Livingston answered, " The people are the ' Lord's anoint- 
ed,' though named ' mob and rabble ' — the people are the 
darling of Providence." 

Colonel Barre, in his famous speech, characterized 
those in America who opposed British oppression, as 
" Sons of Liberty." He read them rightly ; Sons of Lib- 
erty they were, and destined to be free ; they felt it ; they 
adopted the name, it became the watchword under which 
they rallied. Associations called by this name sprang up 
as if by magic, and in a few weeks spread from Massachu- 
setts to Maryland. They would neither use stamps nor 
permit the distributers to remain in office. 

One morning the famous Liberty Tree in Boston was 
found decorated with the effigies of some of the friends of 
the English ministry. The mob compelled Oliver, the 
secretary of the colony, who had been appointed stamp 
distributer, to resign, and promise that he would not aid 

Aug. in their distribution. They also attacked the houses of 
some of the other officials. The patriots- protested against 
these lawless proceedings. Five hundred Connecticut 
farmers came into Wethersfield and compelled Jared 
Ingersol, the stamp officer for that colony, to resign, and 
then take off his hat and give three cheers for " Liberty, 
Property, and no stamps." Such was the feeling, and 

Nov. guch the result, that when the day came, on which the 
law was to go into effect, not one stamp officer could be 
found — all had resigned. 

June. The General Court of Massachusetts issued a circular 

in June, inviting all the colonies to send delegates to a 
convention or Congress, to be held at New York, on the 
first Tuesday of the following October. Accordingly, on 



» 



THE CONGRESS IN SESSION. 291 

the day named delegates from nine of the colonies met at '^^• 
the place appointed. 

The idea of a union of the colonies dates as far back 1765. 
as the days of William Penn, who was the first to suggest 
it ; but now the question was discussed by the various 
committees of correspondence. At a convention which 
met at Albany eleven years before this, Benjamin Frank- 
lin had proposed a plan of union. This was adopted and 
laid before the Assemblies of the colonies, and the Board 
of Trade, for ratification. It met with a singular fate. 
The Assemblies rejected it, because it was too aristocratic, 
and the Board of Trade because it was too democratic. 

The Congress met and spent three weeks in delibera- Ot. 
tion. They drew up a Declaration of Eights, a Memorial 
to both Houses of Parliament, and a Petition to the king. 
They claimed the right of being taxed only by their own 
representatives, premising, that because of the distance, 
and for other reasons, they could not be represented in the 
House of Commons, but in their own Assemblies. These 
documents were signed by nearly all the delegates, and 
transmitted to England. The colonial Assembhes, at 
their earliest days of meeting, gave to these proceedings 
of the Congress their cordial approval. Thus the Union 
was consummated, by which the colonies " became as a 
bundle of sticks which could neither be bent nor broken." 
While the Congress was in session, a ship with stamps on 
board made its appearance in the bay. Placards were 
posted throughout the city, threatening those who should 
attempt to use them. " I am resolved to have the stamps 
distributed," said Colden, the governor. " Let us see 
who will dare to put the act into execution," said the 
Sons of Liberty. 

On the last day of October all the royal governors, 
except the governor of Pthodc Island, took the oath to 
carry into execution the Stamp Act. On the next day the 
law was to go into effect. But not a stamp was to be 



292 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPtE. 

CHAP, seen ; instead, in everj^ colony the bells were tolled, cane] 
the flags lowered to half-mast — indications that the pas- 

1765. sage of this act was regarded as " the funeral of liberty." 

The merchants of New York, Boston, and Philadel- 
phia, agreed to send no orders to England for merchan- 
dise, to countermand those already sent, and to receive no 
goods on commission till the act was repealed. They were 
sustained by the people, who pledged themselves not to use 
the products of English manufacturers, but to encourage 
their own. Circulars were sent throughout the land in- 
viting to harmonious action ; these were responded to 
with a hearty good- will. Luxuries were dispensed with, 
and homespun was more honorable than ever. 

The infatuated ministry, in view of this opposition, 
resolved to modify, not to repeal the law. It would de- 
tract from their dignity, to comply with the request of the 
colonists. " Sooner," said one of them, " than mate our 
colonies our allies, I would wish to see them returned to 
their primitive deserts." 

1766. Infirm health had compelled Pitt to retire from active 
life. " My resolution is taken," said he, " and if I can 
crawl OT be carried to London, I will deliver my mind and 
heart upon the state of America." When accused by 
Grenville of exciting sedition, " Sir," said he in reply, 
" I have been charged with giving birth to sedition in 
America. Sorry I am to have the liberty of speech in 
this house imputed as a crime. But the imputation will 
not deter me ; it is a liberty I mean to exercise. The 
gentleman tells us that America is obstinate ; that Amer- 
ica is almost in rebellion. I rejoice that America has re- 
sisted." The sentiment startled the house ; he continued : 
" If they had submitted, they would have voluntarily be- 
come slaves. They have been driven to madness by injus- 
tice. My opinion is, that the Stamp Act should be repealed, 
absolutely, totally, immediately." The celebrated Edmund 



THE STAMP ACT REPEALED — REJOICINGS. 293 

Burke, then a young man rising into notice, advocated the 'i^^- 
repeal with great eloquence. 

The House of Commons wished to inquire still further 1766. 
of the temper of the Americans before taking the vote. 
Tliej' accordingly called witnesses to their bar, among 
whom was Benjamin Franklin. His knowledge was the 
most perfect, and his testimony had the greatest effect 
upon their minds. He said the colonists could not pay 
for the stamps for want of gold and silver ; that they had 
borne more than their share of expense in the last war, and 
that they were laboring under debts contracted by it ; 
that they would soon supply themselves vi^ith domestic 
manufactures ; that they had been well disposed toward 
the mother country, but recent laws were lessening their 
affection, and soon all commerce would be broken up, un- 
less those laws were repealed ; and finally, that they never 
would submit to taxes imposed by those who had no au- 
thority. The vote was taken, and the Stamp Act was Mar. 
repealed ; not because it was unjust, but because it could 
not be enforced. The people of the English commercial 
cities manifested their joy ; bonfires were lighted, the shipis 
displayed their gayest colors, and the city of London itself 
was illuminated. Expresses were sent to the seaports, 
that the news might reach America as soon as possible. 

The rejoicings in the colonies were equally as great. 
In Boston, the bell nearest to the Liberty Tree was the 
first to ring ; soon gay flags and banners were flying from 
the shipping, from private dwellings, and from the steeples 
of the meeting-houses. Amidst the joy, the unfortunate 
were not forgotten, and those immured in the debtor's 
prison, were released by the contributions of their friends. 
The ministers, from their pulpits, offered thanksgiving in 
the name of the whole people, and the associations against 
importing merchandise from England were dissolved. 
New York, Virginia, and Maryland, each voted a statue 
to Pitt, who became more than ever a popular idol. 



18. 



294 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. In the midst of these trouliles the cause of education 

and religion was not forgotten. The Rev. Eleazar Whee- 

1T60. lock established at Lebanon, in Connecticut, a school to 
educate Indian boys, and train them as teachers for theij: 
own race. Success attended the effort. A grant of forty- 
four thousand acres of land induced him to remove the 
school to Hanover, New Hampshire. Under the name of 
Dartmouth, a charter as a college was granted it, by 
ppg Wentworth, the governor. The Earl of Dartmouth, a 
Methodist, a friend of John Wesley, aided it, was one of 
its trustees, and took charge of the funds contributed for 
it in England — hence the name. 

The establishment of tliis institution was one of the 
effects of the Great Eevival. In the midst of the native 
forest of pines the work was commenced. The principal 
and his students dwelt in log-cabins, built by their own 
hands. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 

The English Ministry determine to obtain .1 Revenue. — Massachusetts invites 
to harmonious Action. — The Romney and the Sloop Liberty. — A Brit- 
ish Regiment at Boston. — Collision with the Citizens. — -Articles of Asso- 
ciation proposed by Washington. — The Tax upon Tea. — Whigs and 
Tories. — ^The Gaspe captured. — The King's Maxim. — The Resolutions 
not to receive the Tea. — Tea thrown into Boston Harbor. — Its Recep- 
tion at other Places. — More ojipressive Laws passed by Parliament. — 
Aid sent to Boston. — Gage's Difficulties. — Alexander Hamilton. — The 
Old Continental Congress. — The Organization ; the first Prayer. — The 
" Declaration of Rights."— The " American Association." — The Papers 
issued by the Congress. — The Views of Pitt in relation to them. 

Lord Grenville, the head of the ministry, was dismissed, S5^',' 

and the Marq[iiis of Rockingham took his place. This 

ministry soon gave way, and another was appointed by 1766. 
the king, at the head of which was placed Pitt, who, in 
the mean time, had been created Earl of Chatham. 

The following year, during Pitt's absence, Charles 

Townshend, his Chancellor of the Excheqiier, announced 

that he intended, at all risks, to derive a revenue from \'^" 
, . , . . , . .June. 

America, by imposing a duty upon certain articles, which 

the colonists received from abroad, such as wine, oil, 

paints, glass, paper, and lead colors, and especially upon 

tea, as they obtained it cheaper from Dutch smugglers 

than the English themselves. It was suggested to him 

to withdraw the army, and there would be no need of a 



296 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. tax. " I will hear nothing on the subject," said lie ; " it 

■ ' '_ is absolutely necessary to keep an army there." 

■|7(37_ The colonists were startled by this news. They now 

remembered the fatal reservation in the repeal of the 
Stamp Act, that Parliament had tlie absolute right to tax 
them. " We will form a universal combination to eat 
nothing, to drink nothing, and wear nothing, imported 
from England," passed as a watchword from one colony 
to another, and very soon the non-importation associations 
were again in vigor. " Courage, Americans ; liberty, relig- 
ion, and science are on the wing to these shores. The 
finger of God points out a mighty empire to your sons," 
said one of the lawyers of New York. " Send over an 
army and fleet, and reduce the dogs to reason," wrote one 
of the royal governors to the ministry. 

Suddenly the Romuey, a man-of-war, appeared in the 
harbor of Boston. The question soon arose, Why is a 
vessel of war sent to our harbor ? The people had resisted 
no law ; they had only respectfully petitioned tor redress, 
and resolved to dispense with the use of British goods. 
Since the arrival of the Eomney, the haughty manner of 
the Commissioners of Customs toward the people had be- 
come intolerable. The Eomney frequentl)' impressed the 
New England seamen as thej' came into the harbor. One 
man thus impressed was forcibly rescued by his compan- 
ions. These and similar outrages excited the bitterest 
animosity between the royal oflicials and the people. 

The Massachusetts Assembly issued a circular to the 
other Colonial Assemblies, inviting to harmonious action 
in obtaining redress. A few months afterward the minis- 
1768. l-ry sent peremptory orders to the Assembly to rescind 
.(line, their circular. Through the influence of Otis and Samuel 
Adarns, the Assembly refused to comj)ly with the arbitrary 
demand, but instead intimated that Parliament ought to 
repeal their otfensive laws. Meantime the other Colonial 
Assemblies received the circular favorably, and also en- 



A BRITISH REGIMENT STATIONED IN BOSTON. 297 

couraged Massachusetts in her resistance to tyranny and ^;^*P 
injustice. 

At this crisis, under the pretence that she had made 1768. 
a false entry, the sloop Liherty, helonging to John Han- 
cock, one of the prominent leaders, was seized, and towed 
under the guns of the Romney. She was laden with Ma- 
deira wine, on which duties were demanded. The news 
soon spread, and a crowd collected, the more violent of 
whom attacked the houses of the Commissioners of Cus- 
toms, who were forced to fly for safety to Castle William 
in the harhor. Of these outbreaks of a few ignorant per- 
sons, the most exaggerated accounts were sent to Eng- 
land, and there it was resolved to send more soldiers, and 
make Massachusetts submit as a conquered country^' Ven- 
geance was to be especially taken on " the insolent <^own 
of Boston." As the Parliament had determined to send 
troops to the colonies, Bernard, the governor, requested 
Colonel Gage to bring a regiment from Halifax to Boston. 
On a quiet Sabbath, these troops were latided under the ■ ggpt. 
cover of the guns of their vessels, their colors flying, 
drums beating, and ba)-onets fixed, as if they had taken 
jiossession of an enemy's town. Neither the leaders of 
the people, nor the people themselves, were intimidated 
by this military demonstration. According to law, troops 
could be lodged in Boston, only when the barracks at the 
forts in the harbor were full. The Assembly refused the 
soldiers quarters, and the food and other necessaries which 
had been demanded. The royalists gravely thought the 
Bostonians " had come within a hair's-breadth of commit- 
ting treason." Gage wrote, " It is of uo use to argue in 
this country, where every man studies law." He would 
enforce obedience without delay. 

Boston was held as a conquered town ; sentinels were 
placed at the corners of the streets, and citizens, when 
passing to their ordinary business, were challenged ; even 
the sacred hours of the Sabbath were not free from the 



298 HISTORY OF THE AUEEICAN PEOPLE. 

^.^^P- din of drums. A collision finally took place, between a 

citizen and a soldier. This led to an affray between the 

1770. soldiers and some rope-makers. A few evenings afterward 
'2'^ a sentinel was assaulted ; soldiers were sent to his aid, 
and they were stoned by the mob. At length a soldier 
fired upon their assailants ; immediately six of his com- 
panions fired also. Three persons were killed and five 
wounded. The town was thrown into a state of great ex- 
citement ; in an hour's time the alarm bells had brought 
thousands into the streets. The multitude was pacified, 
only for the time, by the assurance of Hutchinson, who 
was now governor, that in the morning justice should be 
done. The next morning the people demanded that the 
troops should be removed from the town to Castle Wil- 
liam ; and that Captain Preston, who, "it was said, had, 
commanded his soldiers to fire, should be tried for murder. 
Both these requisitions were complied vrith. Captain 
Preston and six of his men were arraigned for trial. John 
Adams and Josiah Quincy, both popular leaders, volun- 
teered to defend them. They were acquitted by the jury 
of murder, but two of the soldiers were found guilty of 
manslaughter. 

The result of this trial had a good effect in England. 
Contrary to the slanders of their enemies, it showed that 
the Bostonians, in the midst of popular excitement, were 
actuated by principles of justice. Those citizens who had 
been thiis killed were regarded in the colonies as martyrs 
of liberty. 

The Virginia Assembly passed resolutions as " bad as 
those of Massachusetts." The next day, the governor, 
Lord Boutetourte, dissolved the house for passing " the 
...gg abominable resolves." The members immediately held a 
May. meeting, at which Washington presented the resolutions, 
drawn up by himself and his friend George Mason. They 
were a draft of articles of association, not to import from 
Great Britain merchandise that was taxed. " Such was 



I 



THE KING INSISTS ON TAXING TEA. 299 

their zeal against the slave-trade, they made a special c^^p. 

covenant with one another not to import any slaves, nor . 

purchase any imported." To these resolutions were signed 1TG9. 
the names of Patrick Henrj-, Washington, Jefferson, Kich- 
ard Henry Lee, and, indeed, of all the members of the 
Assembly. Tlieu they were sent throughout the colony 
for the signature of every man in it. 

The non-importation associations produced their effect, ^j-^q^ 
and Lord North, who was now prime minister, proposed 
to remove all the duties except that on tea. That was 
retained at the express command of the king, whose maxim 
was, " that there should be always one tax, at least, to 
keep up the right of taxing." This removed part of the 
difficulty, for which the colonists were thanlrful ; but they 
were still united in their determination not to import tea. 
For these concessions they were indebted to the clamors 
of those English merchants whose trade had been injured. 
For a year there was an apparent lull in the storm of 
popular feeling. 

Governor Hutchinson issued a proclamation for a day 
of thanksgi\'ing ; this he required the ministers to read 
from their pulpits on the following Sabbath. He thought 
to entrap them, by inserting a clause acknowledging grat- 
itude, " that civil and religious liberty were continued," 
and " trade encouraged." But he sadly mistook the men. 
The ministers, with the exception of one, whose church 
the governor himself attended, refused to read the proc- 
lamation, but, on the contrary, agreed to "implore of Al- 
mighty God the restoration of lost liberties." 

The contest had continued so long that party lines 
began to be drawn. Those who favored the demands of 
the people, were called Whigs ; those who sympathized 
with the government, were called Tories. These terms 
had been long in use in England, the former to designate 
the opposers of royalty ; the latter its supporters. 

Scarcely a colony was exempt from outrages commit- 



300 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^HAP. ted by those representing the royal authority. In New 

York the people, on what is now the Park, then known as 

1770. the Fields, erected a liberty-pole. They were accustomed 
to assemble there and discuss the afl'airs of the colony. 
On a certain night, a party of the soldiers stationed in 
the fort cut down the pole. The people retaliated, and 
frequent quarrels and collisions occurred. Though these 
disturbances were not so violent as those in Massachusetts, 
they had the effect of exciting in the people intense hatred 
of the soldiers, as the tools of tyranny. 

An armed vessel, the Gaspe, engaged in the revenue 
service, took her position in Narraganset Bay, and in an 
insulting and arbitrary manner enforced the customs. 
Sometimes she wantonly compelled the passing vessels 
and market boats to lower their colors as a token of re- 
spect ; sometimes landed companies on the neighboring 
islands, and carried off hogs and sheep, and other provi- 
"sions. The lieutenant in command wa,s appealed to for his 
authority in thus acting. He referred the committee to 
the admiral, stationed at Boston. The admiral haughtily 
answered : " The -lieutenant is fulfilling his duty ; if any 
persons rescue a vessel from him, I will hang them as 
pirates." The bold sailors and citizens matured their 
1772. plans and executed them. The Providence packet, of a 
jQ ® light draught and a fast sailer, was passing up the bay. 
The Gaspu hailed. The packet paid no attention, but 
passed on. Immediately the Graspo gave chase. The 
packet designedly ran into shoal water near the shore ; 
the Gaspe followed, and was soon aground, — the tide go- 
ing out, left her fast. The following night a company of 
men went down in boats, boarded her, made prisoners of 
the crew, and burned the vessel. A large reward was 
offered for the perpetrators of this bold act ; though well 
known, not one was betrayed. 

The warehouses of the East India Company were filled 
with the " pernicious weed," and the company proposed 



A TAX IMPOSED ON TEA. 



301 



to pay all its duties in England, and then export it at "^hap. 

their own risk. This would remove the difficulty, as there 

would then he no collections of the duty in American l'i'72. 
ports. But the king was unwilling to sacrifce his maxim, 
and Lord North seems to have been incapalile of compre- 
hending, that the Americans refused to pay the d)ity on 
tea, not because it was great or small, but because they 
looked upon a tax thus imposed as unjust. He therefore 
virtually proposed to the company to pay fTiree-foiirtlis of 
the duty in England ; to save the king's maxim, the gov- 
ernment would collect the other fourth, or three pence on 
a pound, in America. It was suggested to North, that 
the Americans would not purchase the tea on those con- 
ditions. He replied : " It is to no purpose the making 
objections, for the king will have it so. The king means 
to try the question with the Americans." ^"^ 

Meantime 23ublic opinion in the colonies was becoming 
more and more enlightened, and more and more decided. 
" We must have a convention of all the colonies," said 
Samuel Adams. And he sent forth circulars inviting 
them to assert their rights, when there was a prospect of 
success. He saw clearly that the king and Parliament 
were resolved to see whether the Americans would or 
would not acknowledge their supremacy. 

When the conditions became known on which tea was 
to be imported, the people took measures to prevent its 
being either landed or sold. In Philadelphia they held a 
meeting, and requested those to whom the tea was con- 
signed " to resign their appointments." They also de- 
nounced " as an enemy to his country," " whosoever shall 
aid or abet in unloading, receiving, or vending the tea." 
Similar meetings were held in Charleston and New York, 
and similar resolutions were passed. 

A ship, making a quick passage, arrived at Boston, 
with intelligence that several vessels laden with tea had 
sailed. Fi\'e thousand men immediately assembled to de- 



302 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAX PEOPLE. 

jS\i' li^si'^ts on the course to be pursued. On motion of 

Samuel Adams, they unanimously resolved to send the 

1773. tea back. " Tlie only way to get rid of it," shouted 
^ 3 ■ some one in the crowd, " is to throw it overboard." Those 
to whom the tea had been consigned were invited to meet 
at Liberty Tree, and resign their appointments. Two of 
the consignees were sons of Governor Hutchinson, who, at 
that time, was peculiarly odious on account of his double- 
dealing. This had been brought to light by a number of 
his letters to persons in England. These letters had 
fallen into the hands of Dr. Franklin, who sent them to 
the Speaker of the Massachusetts Assembly. They dis- 
clofeed the fact, that nearly all the harsh measures directed 
against the colony, had been suggested by Hutchinson. 

According to law, a ship must unload within twenty 
days, or be seized for non-payment of duties. 

Presently a ship laden with tea came into the harbor. 
By order of the committee, it was moored at a certain 
wharf, and a company of twenty-five men volunteered to 
guard it. The owner promised to take the cargo back, if 
the governor would give his permit. Meantime came two 
other vessels ; they were ordered to anchor beside the first. 
The committee waited again upon the consignees, but 
their answer was unsatisfactory. When the committee 
made their report to the meeting, not a word was said ; 
the assemblage silently broke up. The consignees were 
^S"''- terribly alarmed. That silence was ominous. Hutcliin- 
son's two sons fled to the fort, to the protection of the 
regulars. The father went quietly out of town. His ob- 
ject was to gain time till the twenty days should ex- 
pire ; then the ships would pass into the hands of the 
Commissioners of Customs, and the tea would be safe for 
his sons. 

Another meeting of the people was protracted tUl after 
dark ; on the morrow the twentieth day would expire, 
and the tea would be placed beyond ' their reach. At 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA. 303 

length the owner of the vessel returned from his mission |^^^.'j- 

to the governor, and reported that he would not give the , 

permit for the ships to leave the port. " This meeting," 1V73. 
announced Samuel Adams, " can do nothing more to save 
the country." 

Immediately a shout, somewhat like a war-whoop, 
arose from a band of forty or fifty " very dark complex- 
ioned men, dressed like Mohawks," who were around the 
door. This band moved hastily down to the wharf where 
lay the tea ships. Placing a guard to protect them from Dee. 
spies, they went on board and took out three hundred and 
forty-two chests, broke them open, and poured the tea 
into the water. In silence the crowd on shore witnessed 
the aifair ; when the work was accomplished, they quietly 
retired to their homes. Paul Revere set out immediately 
to carry the news to New York and Philadelphia. 

At New York, a tea ship was sent back with her ^^^ 
cargo ; the captain was escorted out of the city by the 25. 
Committee of Vigilance, with banners flying and a band 
playing God save the king. Eighteen chests of tea, found 
concealed on board another vessel, were thrown into the 
dock. In Charleston tea was permitted to be landed, 
but was stowed in damp cellars, where it spoiled. The 
captain of the vessel bound for Pliiladelphia, when four 
miles below the city, learned that the citizens would not 
permit him to land his cargo ; he prudently returned to 
England. At Annapolis, a ship and its cargo were both 
burned ; the owner, to allay the excitement, himself ap- 
plying the torch. 

Meantime the various committees of correspondence 
were making preparations to hold a congress composed of 
representatives from all the colonies. Yet they said, 
and no doubt honestly, that " their old good- will and 
affection for the parent country were not totally lost" 
" If she returned to her former moderation and good hu- 
mor, their affection would revive." 



804 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. When it became known in England that the anda- 

cious colonists would not even permit the tea to be landed, 

1774. the king and ministry determined to make their power 
felt ; and especially to make an example of Boston. Ac- 
cordingly a bill was introduced and passed in Parliament, 
four to one, to close her port to all commerce, and to 
transfer the seat of government to Salem. Though her 
June, citizens offered remuneration for the tea destroyed, yet 
Massachusetts must be punished ; made an example, to 
deter other outbreaks. Parliament immediately passed a 
series of laws which violated her charter and took away 
her privileges. The Port Bill, it was complacently prophe- 
sied, will make Boston submit ; she will yet come as a 
penitent, and promise obedience to British laws. 

'Parliament went still further, and passed other laws ; 
one for quartering soldiers, at the people's expense, on all 
the colonies, and another in connection with it, by which 
officers, who, in enforcing this particular law, should com- 
mit acts of violence, were to be taken to England, and 
tried there for the offence. This clause would encourage 
arbitrary acts, and render military and official insolence 
still more intolerable. To these was added another law, 
known as the Quebec act ; it granted unusual concessions 
to the Catholics of Canada — a stroke of policy, if war 
should occur between the colonies and the mother country. 
This act revived much of the old Protestant feeling latent 
in the minds of the jieople. These laws, ©isposed by many 
in Parliament as unnecessary and tyrannical, excited in 
America a deep feeling of indignation against the English 
government. 

Everywhere Boston met with sympathy. The town of 
Salem refused to accept the proffered boon of becoming 
the seat of government at the expense of her neighbor, 
and Marblehead offered her port, free of charge, to the 
merchants of Boston. In that city great distress was ex- 
perienced ; multitudes, who depended upon the daily 



BOSTON MEETS WITH SYMPATHY. 305 

labor they obtained from commerce, were out of employ- ™^^'- 

ment, and their families suffered. The different colonies 

sent to their aid provisions and money ; these were accom- 1774. 
panied by words of encouragement, to stand firm in the 
righteous cause. The ordinary necessaries of life came 
from their neighbors of New England. " The patriotic 
and generous peojile " of South Carolina sent them two 
liundred barrels of rice, and jjromiscd eight hundi'cd more, 
but urged them " not to pay for an ounce of the tea." 
In North Carolina " two thousand pounds were raised by 
subscription " and sent. Virginia and Maryland vied 
with each other in the good work. Washington presided 
at a meeting of sympathizers, and subscribed himself fifty 
pounds ; and even the farmers on the western frontiers of 
the Old Dominion sent one hundred and thirty-seven bar- 
rels of flour. 

These patriots were determined " that t],ie men of 
Boston, who were deprived of their daily labor, should not 
lose their daily bread, nor be compelled to change their 
residence for want." ' 

Even the citizens of Quebec, French and English, by 
joint effort sent them more than a thousand bushels of 
wheat, while in London itself one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand dollars were subscribed for their benefit. Notwith- 
standing all this distress no riot or outbreak occurred 
among the people. 

General Gage was now Commander-in-chief of the 
British army in America, and had been recently appointed 
governor, in place of Hutchinson. He was sadly at a loss 
how to manage the Bostonians. If they would only vio- 
late the law, he could exercise his civil as well as his mili- 
tary authority. They held meetings, from time to time, 
and freely discussed their public affairs. They were under 

' Bancroft, vol. vii, p. 75. 

20 



306 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

^?^AP. tlie control of leaders who never lost their self-possession, 



XXVI, 



nor transcended their constitutional rights. The govern- 



&^ 



1774. ment, thinking to avoid the evil, forbade them to hold such 
meetings, after a certain day. They evaded the law " by 
convoking the meetings before that day, and keeping them 
alive." ''Faneuil Hall was at times unable to hold them, 
and they swarmed from that revolutionary hive into Old 
South Church. The Liberty Tree became a rallying 
place for any popular movement, and a flag hoisted on it 
was saluted by all processions as the emblem of the popu- 
lar cause." ' 

During this time, the people throughout the colonies 
held conventions and chose delegates to the General Con- 
gress about to meet at Philadelphia. One of these meet- 
ings, held in the " Fields " in New York, was addressed 
by a youth of seventeen. The stripling cluxrmed his hear- 
ers by his. fervor, as he grappled with the question and 
presented with clearness the main points at issue. When 
he closed, a whisper ran through the crowd, " It is a col- 
legian." The j'outh was Alexander Hamilton, a native 
of St. Kitts, of Scotch and French descent, his mother a 
Huguenot. The son combined the caution of the Scot 
with the vivacity of the Gaul. At an early age he lost 
his mother, whose memory he cherished with the greatest 
devotion. "A father's care he seems never to have 
known." At the age of twelve he was thrown upon the 
world to depend upon his own resources. He came to 
Boston, and thence to New York, where he found means 
to enter King's, since Columbia College. He had been 
known to the people simply as the West Indian, who 
walked under the trees in the college green, and uncon- 
scious of the observation of others, talked to himself. 
Henceforth a brilliant mind and untiring energies were to 
be conseciated to the welfare of the land that had adopted 
the orphan. 

' Washington Irvinp;. 



THE OLD CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 307 

When the time came lor the meeting of the General ^.^^^• 

Congress, known as the Old Continental Congress, fifty- , . 

five delegates assembled in the Carpenters' Hall, in the 177-i. 
city of Philadelphia. Every colony was represented, ex- g^ ' 
cept Georgia. Martin, the royalist governor, had prevented 
delegates from being chosen. 

Here for the first time assembled the most eminent 
men of the colonies. They held in their hands, under the 
Great Disposer of all things, the destinies of a people num- 
bering nearly three millions. Here were names now sacred 
in the memories of Americans. George Washington, 
Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Edward and John 
Rutledge, Gadsden, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Roger 
Sherman, Philip Livingston, John Jay, William Living- 
ston, Dr. Witherspoon, President of Princeton College, a 
Scotch Presbyterian minister, who had come over some 
years before, but was said to be " as high a son of liberty 
as any man in America," and others of lesser note, but 
no less patriotism. They had corresponded with each 
other, and exchanged views on the subject of their coun- 
try's wrongs ; they had sympathized as brethren, though 
many of them were to each other personally unknown. It 
was a momentous crisis, and they felt the responsibility 
of their position. 

The House was organized by electing the aged Peyton 
Randolph, of Virginia, Speaker, and Charles Thomson, of 
Pennsylvania, Secretary. A native of Ireland, when a 
youth he came to America. He was principal of the 
Quaker High School in Philadelphia, and was proverbial 
for his truth and honesty. 

It was suggested that it would be becoming to open 
their sessions with prayer. This proposition was thought 
by some to be mexpedient, since perhaps the delegates 
could not all join in the same form of worship. At length 
Samuel Adams, who was a strict Cougregationalist, arose 
and said : " I will willingly join in prayer with any gen- 



308 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 

xxVi *^^"^^^ "^f P'^-'ty '^"^l virtue, whatever may bo his cloth 

provided he is a friend of his country." On his motion, 

IT74. the Rev. Mr. Duche, a popiilar Episcopal clergyman, of 
Philadelphia, was invited to officiate as chaplain. Mr. 
Duch6 accepted the invitation. A rumor, in the mean 
time, reached Philadelphia that General Gage had bom- 
barded Boston. When the Congress ass-^mbled the next 
morning, anxiety and sympathy were depicted on every 
countenance. The rumor, though it proved to be false, 
excited feelings of brotherhood, liitherto unknown. 

The chaplain read the thirty-fifth psalm, and then, 
carried away by his emotions, burst forth into an extem- 
porary prayer to the Lord of Hosts to be their helper. 
" It seemed," says John Adams, in a letter to his wife, 
" as if Heaven had ordained that psalm to be read on that 
morning. He prayed, in language eloquent and sublime, 
for America, for the Congress, for the province of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, and especially for the town of Boston. It 
has had an excellent effect upon everybody here." 

When the jirayer was closed, a long and death-like 
silence ensued, as if each one hesitated " to open a busi- 
ness so momentous." At length Patrick Henry slowly 
arose, faltering at first, "' as if borne down by the weight 
of his subject ; " but the fires of his wonted eloquence be- 
gan to glow, as he recited the colonial wrongs already 
endured, and foretold those yet to come. " Rising, as he 
advanced, with the grandeur of his subject, and glowing 
at length with all the majesty and expectation of the 
occasion, his sj^eech seemed more than that of mortal 
man." He inspired the entire Congress with his liberal 
sentiments ; they found a response in every heart when 
he exclaimed : " British oppression has effaced the boun- 
daries of the several colonies ; the distinctions between 
Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Eng- 
landers, are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an 
American." When he closedj the members were not 



THE PAPEBS ISSUED BY COKGRESS. 309 

merely astonished at his matchless eloquence, but the ^^^f- 

importance of the subject had overwhelmed them. , 

1774. 

The Congress appointed a committee, which drew up 
'a " Declaration of Eights." In this they enumerated 
their natural rights to the enjoyment of life, liberty, and 
property ; as British subjects, they claimed to participate 
in making their own laws ; in imposing their own taxes ; 
the right of trial by jury in the vicinage ; of holding pub- 
lic meetings, and of petitioning for redress of grievances. 
They protested against a standing army in the colonies 
without their consent, and against eleven acts jtassed since 
the accession of George III., as violating the rights of the 
colonies. It was added, " To these grievous acts and 
measures Americans cannot submit." 

To obtain redress they resolved to enter upon peacea- 
ble measures. They agreed to form an "American Asso- 
ciation," in whose articles they pledged themselves not to 
trade with Great Britain or the West Indies, nor with 
those engaged in the slave-trade — which was especially 
denounced — not to use British goods or tea, and not to 
trade with any colony which would refuse to join the asso- 
ciation. Committees were to be appointed in the various 
districts to see that these articles were strictly carried into 
effect. 

Elaborate papers were also issued, in which the views 
of the Congress were set forth still more fully. A petition 
to the king was written by John Dickinson, of Pennsylva- 
nia ; he also wrote an Address to the people of Canada. 
The Memorial to the people of the colonies was written 
by Kichard Henry Lee, of Virginia, and the Address to 
the people of Great Britain by John Jay, of New York. 

Every measure was carefully discussed, and though on 
some points there was much diversity of opinion, yet, as 
Congress sat with closed doors, only the results of these 
discussions went forth to the country, embodied in resolu- 



310 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



CHAP, fcions, and signed by the members. These papers attracted 

the attention of thinking men in England. Said Chat- 

1774. ham, " When your hardships look at the papers trans- 
mitted to us from America ; when you consider tlieir 
decency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot hut respect' 
their cause, and wish to make it your own. For myself, 
I must avow, and I have studied the master states of the 
world, I know not the people, or senate, who, for solidity 
of reason, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, 
under such a complication of difficult circumstances, can 
. stand in preference to the delegates of America assembled 
in General Congress at Philadelphia. The histories of 
Greece and Kome give us nothing equal to it, and all 
attempts to impose servitude upon such a mighty conti- 
nental nation, must be vain." 





-<y ^^ -?->^>^^^^'^c::>C.-£z.^>'y't^ 





2^^^^ 




^^^ ruc/^ (fy i^i/f^c<A?t^ 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

COMMENCEMENT OF THE KEVOLUTION. 

Tlic Spirit of the People. — Gage alarmed. — The People seize Guns and Am- 
niuniiion.— The Massachusetts Provincial Congress ; its Measures. — 
Parliament passes the Restraining Bill. — Conflicts at Lexington and 
Concord. — Volunteers fly to Arms, and beleaguer Boston. — Stark. — 
Putnam. — Benedict Arnold. — Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain 
Boys. — Capture of Ticonderoga.- — Lord Dunmore in Virginia. — Patrick 
Uenry and the Independent Companies. — The News from Lexington 
rouses a Spirit of Resistance. — The second Continental Congress ; it 
takes decisive Measures ; adopts the Army before Boston, and ap- 
points Washington Commander-in-chief. 

While Congress was yet in session, aifairs began to woar SUyw 

a serious aspect in and around Boston. The people were 

practising military exercises. Every village and district 'i^lli. 
had its company of minute-men — men pledged to each 
other to be ready for action at a minute's warning. Eng- 
land soon furnished them an occasion. The ministry pro- 
hibited the exportation of military stores to America, and 
sent secret orders to the royal governors, to seize all the 
arms and gunpowder in the magazines. Gage complied 
with these orders. When it became known that he had 
secretly sent a company of soldiers by night, who had 
seized the powder in the arsenal at Charlestown, and con- 
veyed it to Castle William, the minute-men assembled at 
once. Their eagerness to go to the governor and compel 
him to restore it to the arsenal could scarcely be restrained. 
Ere long various rumors were rife in the couutrj' — that 
Boston was to be attacked ; that the fleet was bombarding 



312 HISTORY OF THE AJIEKICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, it J that the soldiers were shooting down the citizens in its 

streets. Thousands of the sturdy yeomanry of Massa- 

l'i'74. chusetts and Connecticut credited these rumors ; they 
. left their farms and their shops, and hastened to the res- 
cue. Before they had advanced far they learned that the 
reports were untrue. General Gage was alarmed by this 
significant movement ; he did not ajjprehend its full im- 
port, neither did he rightly discern the signs of the times, 
nor read the spirit of the people ; he was a soldier, and 
understood the power that lies in soldiers and fortifications, 
but knew nothing of the power of free principles. He 
determined to fortify the neck which connects Boston with 
the mainland, and place there a regiment, to cut off all 
communication between the people in the country and 
those in the town. 
1774. Intelligence of these proceedings spread rapidly through 

^^"- the land. The people took possession of the arsenal at 
Charlestown, from which the powder had been removed. 
At Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, a company, led by 
John Sullivan, afterward a major-general, captured the 
fort, and carried off one hundred barrels of powder and 
some cannon. At Newport, in the absence of the men-of- 
war, forty-four pieces of artillery were seized and conveyed 
to Providence. In Connecticut, the Assembly enjoined 
upon the towns to lay in a double supply of ammunition, 
to mount their cannon, and to train the militia frequently. 
This spirit was not confined to New England, but pre- 
vailed in the middle and southern colonies, where the peo- 
ple took energetic measures to put themselves in a posture 
of defence; 

In the midst of this commotion. Gage, thinking to 
conciliate, summoned the Massachusetts Assembly to 
Oct. meet at Salem ; but, alarmed at the spirit manifested at 
^- the town meetings in the province, he countermanded the 
order. The Assembly, however, met ; and as no one ap- 
peared to administer the oaths, and open the session, the 



MASSACHUSETTS ADOPTS DECIDED MEASURES. 313 

members adjourned to Concord, and there organized as a ^^^J^ 

Provincial Congress. They elected John Hancock Presi- 

dent, and Benjamin Lincoln Secretary. Lincoln was a 1774, 
• farmer, and afterward became an efficient major-general 
in the revolutionary army. This was the first provincial 
Assembly organized independently of royal authority. 

They sent an address to Gage, in which they com- 
plained of the recent acts of Parliament ; of his own high- 
handed measures ; of his fortifying Boston Nect, and 
requested him to desist ; at the same time they protested 
their loyalty to the king, and their desire for peace and 
order. Gage replied that he was acting in self-defence, 
and admonished them to desist from their own unlawful 
proceedings. 

The Assembly disregarded the admonition, went quiet- 
ly to work, apijointed two committees, one of safety, and 
the other of supplies, — the former was empowered to 
call out the minute-men, when it was necessary, and the 
latter to supply them with provisions of all kinds. They 
then appointed two general officers — Artemas Ward, one 
of the judges of the court, and Seth Pomeroy, a veteran 
of threescore and ten, who had seen service in the French 
war. They resolved to enlist twelve thousand minute- 
men, and invited the other New England colonies to in- 
crease the number to twenty thousand. The note of alarm 
was everywhere heard ; preparations for defence were 
everywhere apparent. In Virginia the militia companies 
burnished their arms and practised their exercises. Wash- 
ington, their highest military authority, was invited, and 
often visited differSnt parts of the country, to inspect these 
volunteers on their review days. 

The attention of all was now turned to the new Par- 1775. 
liament about to assemble. To some extent, a change ■'^'''■ 
had come o.ver the minds of many of the English people ; 
the religious sympathies of the Dissenters were specially 
enlisted in favor of the colonists. The papers issued by 



314 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAlf PEOPLr. 

CHAP, the Continental Congress had been iJuUished and circu- 

XXVIl. 

. .' lated extensively in England, by tlie exertions of Fianklin 

1775. and others. Their plain, unvarnished statements of facts, 
and their claim for the colonists to enjoy British as well • 
as natural rights, had elicited sympathy. 

Chatham, though much enfeebled, hurried up to Lon- 
don to plead once more for American rights. He brought 
in a bill, which ho hoped would remove the difficulties ; 
but the House spurned every scheme of reconciliation 
short of absolute submission on the part of the colonists. 
Lord North, urged on by his colleagues in the ministry, 
whom he had not strength of will to resist, went further 
than ever. The Boston Port Bill had not accomplished 
its desion ; and now he introduced what was termed the 
"New England Restraining Bill, which deprived the people 
of those colonies of the privilege of tishing on the banks 
of Newfoundland. He declared Massachusetts was in 
rebellion, and the other colonies, by their associations, 
were aiding and abetting her. Parliament pledged itself 
to aid the king in maintaining his authority. 
Mar. The next month came intelligence to England, that 

the Colonial Assemblies had not only apjn-oved the reso- 
lutions of the Continental Congress, but had determined 
to support them. To punish them for this audacity. Par- 
liament passed a second Eestraining Act, to apply to all 
the colonies except New York, Delaware, and North Car- 
olina. The object of this mark of favor signally failed ; 
these colonies could not be bribed to desert their sisters. 

General Gage had learned, by means of spies, that at 
Concord, eighteen mUes from Boston, the patriots had 
collected ammunition and military stores. These he de- 
termined to destroy. His preparations were made with 
the greatest secrecy ; but the Sons of Liberty were vigi- 
lant. Dr. Warren, one of the committee of safety, noticed 
the unusual stir ; the collection of boats at certain points ; 



LEXINGTON. 315 

that the light infantry and grenadiers were taken oif duty. ^^^J'j 

He sent information of what he had seen and suspected 

to John Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were at Lex- 1775. 
ington. It was rightly surmised that Concord was the 
object of the intended expedition. It was to leave Boston 
on the night of the eighteenth of April ; on that day ^ ^g' 
Gage issued orders foibidding any one to leave the town 
after dark. Again the vigilance of Warren had antici- 
pated him. Before his order could go into effect, Paul 
Revere and William Dawes, two swift and trusty messen- 
gers, were on the way to the country, by different routes. 
A lantern held out from the steeple of the North Church — 
the concerted signal to the patriots in Charlestowu — 
warned them that something unusual was going on'. Mes- 
sengers from that place hurried to rouse the country. 

About ten o'clock, under cover of the darkness, eight 
or nine hundred men, light infantry and grenadiers, em- 
barked and crossed to Cambridge, and thence, with as 
little noise as possible, took up their line of march. To 
their surprise they heard in advance of them the tolling 
of bells, and the firing of alarm guns ; evidently they 
were discovered. Lieutenant-colonel Smith sent back to 
Gage for reinforcements, and also ordered Major Pitcairn 
to press forward, and seize the two bridges at Concord. 
Pitcairn advanced rapidly and arrested every person he 
met or overtook, but a countryman, who evaded him, 
spurred on to Lexington, and gave the alarm. At dawn 
of day Pitcairu's division reached that place. Seventy 
or eighty minute-men, with some other persons, were on 
the green. They were uncertain as to the object of the 
British. It was thought they wished to arrest Hancock 
and Adams, both of whom had left the place. Pitcairn 
ordered his men to halt and load their muskets ; then 
riding up he cried out,—" Disperse, you rebels." " Down 
with your arms, you villains, and disperse," was echoed 
by his officers. Confusion ensued ; random shots were 



April 
19. 



316 HISTOKY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, fired on both sides ; then, by a volley from the British, 

seven men were killed and nine wounded. The Ameri- 

1775. cans dispersed, and the British soldiers gave three cheers 
for their victory ! By whom the first shot was tired is 
uncertain. Each party charged it upon the other. Be 
that as it may, here was commenced the eight years' war 
of the revolution. 

Presently Colonel Smith came up, and in half an liour 
the entire body moved on toward Concord, six miles dis- 
tant. Information of the firing at Lexington had already 
reached that place. The minute-men were assembled on 
the green near the church. About seven o'clock the ene- 
my appeared, in two divisions. The minute-men retreated 
across a bridge to the top of a neighboring hill. The 
British placed a strong guard at the bridge, and spent 
two hours in destroying what stores they could find, as the 
greater part had been concealed, and pillaging some private 
dwellings. Meantime the little company on the hill in- 
creased rapidly, and soon it numbered about four hundred 
arid fifty. They advanced upon the guard, who fired upon 
them, and skirmishing commenced. As the British began 
to retreat they were followed by an irregular and galling 
fire from behind trees, and fences, and houses. In vain 
they sent flanking-parties to free themselves from their 
assailants, who were increasing every minute ; the nimble 
yeomanry would retire before these parties, only to appear 
at a more favorable p'oint. Colonel Smith was severely 
wounded, and many of his men killed. He had consumed 
more than two hours in retreating to Lexington ; there, 
fortunately for him, Lord Percy, who insultingly had 
marched out of Boston to the tune of Yankee Doodle, 
met him with a thousand men and two field-pieces. The 
fainting and exhausted troops were received in a hollow 
square, where they rested, while the fresh soldiers kept the 
Lidomitable " rebels " at bay with their field-pieces. 

While the enemy were thus halting, General Heath, 



THE HASTY RETREAT VOLUKTEERS FLY TO ARMS. 317 

whom the Massachusetts Provincial Congress had aji- ^"■}'! 

pointed to command the minute-men, came upon the 

ground, and also Dr. Warren. They directed the Ameri- 1775. 
cans, whose attacks were now more in concert, but still 
irregular. The British set fire to dwellings in Lexington, 
then renewed their retreat, pillaging and burning as they 
went. The Americans, greatly exasperated, harassed them 
at every step. Lord Percy's condition became very criti- 
cal. The country was roused ; new assailants poured in 
from every side ; every moment he was more and more 
encumbered by the number of the wounded, while his am- 
munition was nearly exhausted. Had he been delayed an 
hour longer, his retreat would have been cut off by a pow- 
erful force from Marblehead and Salem. " If the retreat," 
writes Washington, " had not been as precipitate as it 
was — and God knows it could not well have been more 
so — ^the ministerial troops must have surrendered, or been 
totally cut off." In this affair, about eighty of the Ameri- 
cans were killed or wounded, and of the British nearly 
three hundred. 

Intelligence of this conflict spread rapidly through the 
country ; couriers hastened from colony to colony. In 
New England, volunteers flew to arms, and in ten days 
an irregular army completely blockaded the British in 
Boston, by a line of encampments, that extended from 
Koxbury to beyond Charlestown — a distance of nine miles. 
The fire of other days glowed in the breasts of the old 
campaigners of the French war, — none were more ready 
than they. John Stark, whom we have seen leading his 
men in that war, waited not for invitation nor commission ; 
in ten minutes after he heard the news he was on his way. 
Israel Putnam, another name associated with deeds of 
daring in French and Indian warfare, was laboring in his 
field when the courier passed along. He left the work, 
mounted a horse, roused his neighbors, and, without 
changing his clothes, hastened to Boston. Putnam was 



318 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

™\u ^ native of Salem, Massachusetts, but for many years a 

resident of CoEnecticut. Though now almost sixty years 

1775. of age, he was buoyant in spirits as a boy, imjoulsive and 
frank as he was fearless, and too generous to suspect 
others of guile. 

At this crisis, the Massachusetts Congress took ener- 
getic measures. A regiment of artillery was formed, the 
command of which was given to the aged Gridley, who, 
thirty years before, commanded the artillery at the taking 
of Louisburg. In the other colonics, the people were not 
inactive ; they seized arms and ammunition wherever 
found, repudiated the royal authority, and each for itself 
called a Provincial Congress. 

It was suggested to the Massachusetts Committee of 
Safety to seize the two posts, Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point, on Lake Champlain, and thus secure the " key of 
Canada," as well as the cannon and other military stores 
there deposited. Benedict Arnold, who commanded a 
company in the camp before Boston, entered into the ])roj- 
ect with great ardor. Arnold was a man of impulsive 
temper, petulant, headstrong, and reckless of danger ; he 
thirsted for an opportunity to distinguish himself. The 
Committee gave him the commission of colonel, with au- 
thority to raise men and accomplish the object. He 
learned that others were engaged in the same enterprise, 
and without waiting to enlist men, he set out immediately 
for Vermont. There he met the redoubtable Ethan Al- 
len — an original character — who from his very singulari- 
ties exerted a great influence over his companions. When 
he harangued them, as he often did, " his style, though a 
singular compound of, local barbarisms, and scriptural 
phrases, and oriental wildness, was highly animated and 
forcible." The territory now known as the State of Ver- 
mont, was claimed at this time by both New York and 
New Hampshire ; but the inhabitants preferred to live 



CAPTURE OF TICONDEEOGA. 319 

under the rule of the latter, and formed combinations to j^'^^'.'- 

resist the authority of New York. Allen was the leader 

of " the Green Mountain Boys," an association formed 1775. 
for this purpose. 

These Green Mountain Boys, numbering about two 
Imndred and seventy, with Allen at their head, were al- 
ready on their way to Ticonderoga. Within a few miles 
of the head of Lake Champlain, Arnold overtook them. 
By virtue of his commission as colonel, he ordered Allen 
10 surrender the command into his hands. AUen refused, 
nor would his men march under any other leader. It was 
finally arranged that Arnold should go as a volunteer, re- 
taining the rank of colonel without the command. The 
IbUowing night the party reached Shoreham, a point on 
the lake opposite Ticonderoga. At dawn of day, as they May 
had but few boats, only eighty-three men with Arnold 
and Allen had crossed over. 

They could delay no longer, lest they should be dis- 
covered, and Allen proposed to move on at once to the 
fort. Guided by a boy of the neigliborhood, a brisk run 
up the hill soon brought them to the entrance. They 
secured the two sentinels, one of whom they compelled to 
show the way to the quarters of Captain Delaplace, the 
commandant. The vigorous knocks of Allen at his door 
soon roused him. When he appeared, half-awake and 
half-dressed, Allen flourished his sword, and called upon 
him to surrender the fort. The commandant stammered 
out, " By whose authority do you act ? " " In the name 
of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," 
thundered Allen. This was a demonstration not to be 
resisted. The cheers of Allen's men had already roused 
the garrison, all of whom were taken prisoners. 

Two days later Seth Warner, Allen's lieutenant, with 
a detachment, took Crown Point. Arnold then obtained 
boats, pushed on, and captured St. John's in the SoreL 
Altogether, sixty prisoners were taken, and what was far ' 



320 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, more imiiortaat, two hundred cannons and a larsre suppl-y 

XXVII. ■' ' & i Jr- J 



of gunpowder. 



1775. 



Two diij's after the affiiir at Lexington, Lord Dunmore, 
governor of Virginia, sent a company of marines, who, in 
April the night, entered the capital, Williamsburg, and carried 
^^- off from the puhlic arsenal about twentj' barrels of powder, 
and conveyed them on board an armed schooner lying in 
James river. When the inhabitants learned the fact the 
next morning, tbey were greatly exasperated. Numbers 
flew to arms with the intention of recoveiiiig the powder. 
By the persuasions of the leading citizens, and of the 
council, they were restrained from acts of violence. 

The Council, however, addressed a remonstrance to 
the governor, who promised, verbally, to restore the pow- 
der when it should be needed. The people deemed his 
answer unsatisfactory. When intellig(;uoe came of the 
conflict at Concord, it flashed upon their minds that the 
seizure of the powder and munitions of war in the colonies 
was concerted by the royal governors, in accordance with 
instructions from the ministry. 
g^" Patrick Henry invited the independent companies of 

the county of Hanover to meet him at a certain place on 
the second of May. They, seven hundred strong, obeyed 
the call. He made known why they were called together ; 
spoke of the fight at Concord, and the occasion of it. 
Then, at their head, he marched towards Williamsburg, 
determined either to bave the powder returned, or its 
value in money. On their way a messenger from the 
frightened governor met them, and tendered the money 
for the full value of the powder. The money was after- 
ward sent to Congress. 

The companies now disbanded, with the understanding 
that when called upon, they were to be ready to march at 
a minute's warning. Thus did Virginia emulate Massa- 
chusetts. 



1 
1 



THE PEOPLE RISE IN OPPOSITION. 321 

Dunmore, in the mean while, fled with his family on J^^,^- 

hoard a man-of-war, and thence issued one of his harmless 

proclamations, in which he declared " a certain Patrick ITTS. 
Henry and his associates to be in rebellion/' 

A few days before he had said, " The whole country 
can easily be made a solitude ; " and he threatened to 
declare freedom to the slaves, arm them, and lay Wil- 
liamsburg in ashes I 

As the news from Lexington and Concord reached the 
various portions of the colonies the people rose in opposi- 
tion. The whigs were indignant at the outrage, and the 
royalists censured Gage for his rash and harsh measures. 

In New York, the Sons of Liberty, with Kobert Sears, 
the sturdy mechanic, at their head, seized eighty thousand 
pounds of flour, which was on board of sloops ready to be 
taken to Boston for the king's troops ; they shut up the 
custom-house, and forbade vessels to leave the harbor for 
any colony or port which acknowledged British authority ; 
they secured the arms and ammunition belonging to the 
city, while the volunteers turned out and paraded the 
streets. The General Committee was dilatory ; another 
was chosen to act with more energy. An association was 
formed whose members pledged themselves, " under all 
ties of religion, honor, and love of country, to submit to 
committees and to Congress, to withhold supplies from 
the British troops, and, at the risk of lives and fortunes, 
to repel every attempt at enforcing taxation by Parlia- 
ment." 

Similar was the spirit manifested in the Jerseys. In 
Philadelphia, thousands of the citizens assembled and 
resolved, " To associate for the purpose of defending with 
arms, their lives, their property, and liberty." Thomas 
Mifflin, the warlike young Quaker, urged them in his 
speech, " not to be bold in declarations and cold in action." 
Military companies were formed in the neighboring coun- 
■21 



322 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

xxvii" ^^^^' ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^'^'^ '^^^^' ^'^^ armed themselves and 
, daily practised their exercises. 

1775. In Maryland, Eden, the royalist governor, in order to 

conciliate, gave tip to the people the arms and ammunition 

of the province. 

In Charleston, the people at once distributed the 
twelve hundred stand of arms which they seized in the 
royal arsenal, while the Provincial Congress, with Henry 
Laurens, a Huguenot by descent, as their president, de- 
clared themselves " ready to sacrifice their lives and for- 
tunes to secure freedom and safety." The officers of the 
militia threw up their commissions from the governor, and 
declared themselves ready to submit to the authority of 
Congress. Regiuients of infantry and rangers were imme- 
diately raised. 

Georgia, which had hitherto been lukewarm, now took 
decided ground. The people broke into the royal maga- 
zine, from which they took all the powder, five himdred 
pounds. The committee wrote words of encouragement 
and commendation to the people of Massachusetts, and 
sent them rice and specie. 

In North Carolina, as the news jiassed from place to 
place, it awakened the spirit of resistance to tyranny. 
The highlands along her western frontier were settled by 
Presbyterians of Scotch-Irish descent, " who were said to 
possess the impulsiveness of the Irishman with the dogged 
resolution of the Covenanter." A county convention was 
in session when the courier arrived. Fired with indigna- 
tion, tlie delegates resolved to throw off " the authority 
of the king and Parliament." Ephraim Brevard, " trained 
in the college at Princeton," and afterward a martyr in 
the cause, embodied their sentiments in resolutions, which 
declared : " All laws and commissions, confirmed by or 
derived from the authority of the king and Parliament to 
May. be annulled and vacated." To maintain their rights, they 
also determined to form nine mihtary companies, and to 



THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 323 

frame laws for the internal government of the countrj'. ^^^j'j 

This was the famous Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde- .' 

pendence. I'i'TS. 

Such was the spirit that pervaded the minds of the 
entire people. Throughout the land free principles had 
laid the train — the spark was applied at Lexington. 

On the tenth of May the second Continental Congress May 
commenced its session at Philadelphia. They organized 
without changing the officers of the year before. In a 
few days, however, Peyton Randolph resigned the presi- 
dency to return to Virginia and preside over the Assembly, 
which had been called by the governor. 

Thomas Jefferson was sent to supply his place as a 
delegate, and John Hancock was elected president. Har- 
rison, of Virginia, in conducting him to the chair, said : 
" We will show Britain how much we value her pro- 
scriptions." For it was well known that Hancock and 
Sanuiel Adams were deemed rebels too great to be par- 
doned. 

Dr. Franklin had returned only a few days before from 
England, where he had been for some years in the capacity 
of agent for some of the colonies. There his enlightened 
statesmanship and far-seeing judgment bad won the re- 
spect of liberal-minded Englishmen. He was at once 
chosen a delegate. Also, in addition to the members of 
the first Congress, appeared George Clinton and Robert R. 
Livingston, from New York. 

The members were encouraged, for the measures of the 
first Congress had been approved by the assemblies of all 
the colonies. 

The first General Congress met to protest and peti- 
tion ; the second to assume authority and take decisive 
measures. Then the door was open for reconciliation with 
the mother country, now it was almost closed. The face 
of affairs was changed ; blood had been wantonly shed, 



32-t HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

•^HAK and a beleaguering host of rustic soldiery were besieging 

the enemy. 

1775. Congress was imbued with the spirit of the time. In 

committee of the whole reports were called for on the 
state of the country. These disposed of, they passed to 
other matters ; reviewed the events of the last year ; inves- 
tigated the causes which led to the conflicts at Lexington 
and Concord. The timid proposed to memorialize Parlia- 
ment once more. No ! argued John Adams, and many 
others ; it is useless, we have been spurned from the 
throne, and our petitions treated with contempt ; such a 
memorial would embarrass our proceedings, and have no 
influence upon Parliament. Yet another petition was, in 
form, voted to the king, and while they denied any inten- 
tion to cast off their allegiance, they proceeded to put the 
colonies in a posture of defence. 

They formed a " Federal Union," by whose provisions 
each colony was to manage its own internal concerns ; but 
all measures pertaining to the whole community, such as 
treaties of peace or alliance, the regulation of commerce, 
or deelaration of war, came under the jurisdiction of Con- 
gress. They recognized Him who holds in his hands the 
destinies of nations. They issued a proclamation for a 
day of solemn fasting and prayer. 

Congress now assumed the authority of the central 
power of the nation. They forbade persons, under any 
circumstances, to furnish provisions to the British navy or 
troops ; took measures to enlist an army and to build 
fortifications, and to procure arms and ammunition. To 
defray expenses, they issued " Bills of Credit," amount- 
ing to two milhons of dollars, for whose redemption they 
pledged the faith of the " United Colonies." In accord- 
ance with the request of the Provincial Congress of Massa- 
chusetts, they adopted the volunteers in the camp before 
Boston, as the continental array. It remained to appoint 
a Commander-in-chief. On this subject there were diver- 



WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 32S 

sitics of opinion. Some thought a New England army ^^^jl- 

would prefer a New England commander ; others strove , 

to appoint a commander acceptable to all sections of the 1775. 
country. The members of Congress acknowledged the 
military talents of Washington, and appreciated his lib- 
eral views as a statesman. As chairman of the committee 
on military affairs, he had suggested the majority of the 
rules for the army, and of the measures for defence. At 
this time came intimations in a private letter from Dr. 
Warren to Samuel Adams, that many leading men in 
Massachusetts desired his apjjointment as commander-in- 
chief 

Patrick Henry, when asked, on his return home from 
the first Congress, who of the members was the greatest 
man, had replied, " If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Kut- 
Icdge, of South Carolina, is, by far, the greatest orator ; 
but if you speak of solid information and sound judgment. 
Colonel Washington is unquestionably the greatest man 
on that floor." 

John Adams took occasion to point out what, under 
the present circumstances, should be the qualifications of 
a commander-in-chief, and closed by remarking, that they 
knew a man who had these qualifications — " a member of 
this house from Virginia." He alluded to Washington. 
A few days after, the army was regularly adopted, and 
the salary of the commander-in-chief fixed at five hundred 
dollars a month. That arranged, Mr. Johnson, of Mary- 
land, nominated Washington for the office. The election 
was by ballot, and he was unanimously chosen. The next .June 
day the president of Congress formally announced to him ^^ 
iiis election. Washington rose in his seat and briefly ex- 
pressed his gratitude for the unexpected honor, and his 
devotion to the cause. Then he added, " I beg it may 
be remembered by every gentleman in this room, that I 
this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do not 



326 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, think myself equal to the command I am honored 

with." Refusing any pay, he continued, "I will keep an 

1775. exact account of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, 
they will discharge, and that is all I desire." Con- 
gress resolved " to maintain and assist, and adhere to 
him with their lives and fortunes in the defence of 
American liberty." 



CHAPTEE XXVIII. 

THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 

Battle of Bunker Hill. — Death of Warren. — Washington on hia way to joiu 
the Army. — Generals Charles Lee and Schuyler. — State of Affairs in 
New York. — Sir William Johnson. — The Condition of the Army. — Na- 
thaniel Greene. — Morgan and his Riflemen. — Wants of the Army. — 
Difficultie.s on Lake Ghamplain. — Expedition against Canada. — Richard 
Montgomery. — Allen's rash Adventure. — Montreal captured. — Arnold's 
toilsome March to Quebec. — That Place besieged. — Failure to storm 
the Town. — Death of Montgomery. — .irnold in his Icy-Fortress. 

For two months the armies in and around Boston had 
watched each other. General Gage, in the mean time, xxynj 

Lad received large reinforcements. These were led by 

three commanders of reputation : Generals Howe, Bur- ^^'^^• 
goyne, and Henry Clinton. We may judge of the sur- 25. 
prise of these generals to find the king's regulars " hemmed 
in by what they termed a rustic rout, with calico frocks 
and fowling-pieces." " What ! " exclaimed Burgoyne, 
" ten thousand peasants keep five thousand king's troops 
shut up ! Well, let us get in, and we'll soon find elbow- 
room." This vain boast was followed by no decided move- 
ment. Gage merely sent forth a proclamation, declared 
the province under martial law, and offered pardon to all 
the rebels who should return to their allegiance, except 
Samuel Adams and John Hancock. These " rebels" were 
placed beyond the pale of the king's mercy. 

The patriot soldiers, numbering about fifteen thou- 
sand, had come from their various towns, in independent 
companies, under their own leaders ; their friends in their 



328 HISTOKT OF THE AJIEKICAN PEOPLE. 

^HAP. respective towns supplied them with provisious. The 

Massachusetts troops were under General Ward ; John 

17V5. Stark led the New Hampshire volunteers ; Putnam com- 
manded those frum Connecticut, and Nathaniel Greene 
the regiment from Khode Island. The artillery, consisting 
of nine pieces, was under the control of the venerable 
Colonel Gridley. The great majority of the soldiers were 
clad in their homespun working clothes ; some had rifles 
and some had fowling-pieces. The British greatly exas- 
perated them hy taunts and acts expressive of contempt. 
Opposed to the motley group of patriot soldiers, was a well- 
disciphned army of ten thousand men, under experienced 
commanders. 

It was rumored that Gage intended to seize and 
fortify Bunker's Hill and Dorchester Heights — the one 
lying north and the other south of the town. In order tu 
prevent this, some of the patriots proposed that they 
should take possession of the hill themselves. The more 
cautious were oppiosed to the enterprise, as extremely 
hazardous ; it might provoke a general action, and they 
were deficient in ammunition and guns. But the fearless 
Putnam felt confident, with proper intrencbments, the 
patriots could not fail of success. " The Americans," 
said he, " are never afraid of their heads, they only think 
of their legs ; shelter them, and they will fight forever." 
It was reported that the enemy intended to seize Bunker 
Hill on the night of the eighteenth of June, and therefore 

, not a moment was to be lost. On the evening of Friday 

Juno. . '^ ■' 

16. the sixteenth, a company of about twelve hundred men, 
with their arms, and provisions for twenty-four hours, as- 
sembled on the common at Cambridge. Very few of them 
knew where they were going, but all knew that it was 
into danger. Prayer was oiiered by President Langdon, 
of Harvard College. About nine o'clock they commenced 
then- march, under the command of Colonel William 
Prescottj a veteran of the French war ; one in whom the 



BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 329 

soldiers had implicit confidence. Charlestown Neck was S^^.?; 

strongly guarded, but they passed over it in safety, and 

were soon on the ground. Bunker Hill was designated in 1775. 
the orders, but Breed's Hill, as it had a better command ., 
of the harbor, was fortified instead. The ground was 
speedily marked out, and about midnight the men com- 
menced their labors. Early daylight revealed to the aston- 
ished eyes of the British sailors in the harbor the strong 
redoubt that had sprung up so suddenly on the hill-top, 
and the Americans still busy at their work. Without 
waiting for orders, the sloop-of-war Lively opened her 
guns upon them ; a floating battery and other ships did 
the same. The firing roused the people of Boston. Gage, 
through his spy-glass, noticed Prescott, who was on the 
parapet inspecting the works. " Who is that officer in 
command," he asked ; " will he fight ? " " He is an old 
soldier, and will fight to the last droj) of his blood," replied 
one who knew Prescott well. " The works must be car- 
ried," remarked Gage. An hour later the plan of attack 
was decided upon by a council of war. 

From the heights the Americans saw and heard the 
bustle of preparation. Kepeated messages were sent to 
General Ward for the promised reinforcements. Putnam 
hurried to Cambridge to urge the demand in person. 
Ward hesitated lest he should weaken the main division. 
It was eleven o'clock before Stark and Eeed, with their 
regiments, were ordered to the relief of Prescott, and the 
wearied soldiers, who had been laboring all night at the 
redoubt. 

About noon, twenty- eight barges filled with soldiers, 
under the command of Generals Howe and Pigott, left 
Boston. The ships kept up an incessant cannonade to 
cover their landing. General Howe discovered that the 
works were stronger than he anticipated, and he sent to 
General Gage for reinforcements ; his men, while waiting, 
were regaled with refreshnieilts and " grog." Meantime 



330 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, the Americans strengthened their works, and forined a 

rustic breastwork ; to do this, they pulled up a post-and- 

1775. rail fence, placed it behind a stone fence, and filled the 
space between with new-mown grass. This extended 
down the side of the hill north of the redoubt to a swamp. 
Now they were cheered by the sight of 8tark, who ap- 
peared with five hundred men. As he marched leisurely 
along, some one suggested a rajaid movement. The vet- 
eran rephed, " One fresh man in action is worth ten tired 
ones ; " and he moved quietly on. A part of his force 
halted with Putnam at Bunker Hill, and a part joined 
Knowlton behind the fence breastwork. About two 
o'clock, Dr. Warren, who had recently been appointed 
major-general, but had not received his commission, ar- 
rived. He came, as did Pomeroy, to serve in the ranks. 
When Putnam pointed him to the redoubt, and said, 
" There you will be under cover," " Don't think," replied 
Warren, " that I seek a place of safety — where will the 
attack be the hottest ? " Still j^ointing to the same spot 
Putnam answered : " That is the enemy's object ; if that 
can be maintained the day is ours." When W^arren en- 
tered the redoubt, the soldiers received him with liearty 
cheers. Prescott offered him the command, which he 
gracefully declined, saying : " I shall be happy to learn 
from a soldier of your experience." 

The day was clear and bright : the British, in their 
brilliant uniforms, presented a fine appearance. Thou- 
sands watched every movement from the house-tops in 
Boston and from the neighboring hills. Fathers, husbands, 
sons, and brothers were to meet the enemy, for the first 
time, in a regular battle. The expedition had commenced 
with pi-ayer on Cambridge green, and now minister Mc- 
Clintock, of New Hampshire, was passing among the men 
praying and exhorting them to stand firm. 

About half-past two o'clock, the British, confident of 
an easy victory, advanced ;• one division, xinder Genera] 



BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 33] 

Pigott, marched up the hill to storm the redoubt in front, SyA?; 

while the other, under G-eneral Howe, advanced against the 

fence breastwork, in order to gain the rear and cut off the 1775. 
retreat. The redoubt was commanded by Prescott. Stark, 
Knowlton, and Reed, with some of the New Hampshire 
and Connecticut men, were at the fence. As he saw the 
enemy advancing, Prescott, with his usual presence of 
mind, passed among his men and encouraged them. " The 
redcoats," said he, " will never reach the redoubt, if you 
will but withhold your fire till I give the order, and be 
careful not to shoot over their heads." The impetuous 
Putnam, who seems to have had no special command, was 
everywhere. " Wait till you see the whites of their eyes, 
aim at their waistbands, pick off the handsome coats, 
steady my lads," were his directions as he rode along the 
lines. " Wait for orders and fire low," was the policy 
that controlled the movements on Bunker HUl. 

The British, as they advanced, kept up an incessant 
discharge of musketry. Not a sound issued from the 
Americans. When Pigott's division came within forty 
j)aces, those in the redoubt levelled their guns for a mo- 
ment, then Prescott gave the word : " Fire ! " Whole 
ranks were cut down. The enemy fell back, but urged on 
by their officers, again advanced. The Americans allowed 
them to come nearer than before, but received them more 
warmly. The carnage was dreadful ; Pigott himself or- 
dered a retreat. At the same moment Howe's division 
was also retreating. The brave band who guarded the 
fence, had allowed him to advance within thirty paces, 
then had jjoured in their reserved fire with deadly effect. 
Both divisions retired down the hill to the shore. Gase 
had threatened that he would burn the town of Charles- 
town if the Americans should occupy the heights. The 
threat was now carried into execution, by bombs thrown 
from the ships and Copp's Hill. The conflagration added 
new horrors to the scene. 



332 HISTORY or the American people. 

?YvnT '^^^ British resolved upon a second attack. This 

proved a counterpart of the first. By volleys discharged 

1775. at the right moment, and with unerring aim, their whole 
force was driven back. Their officers labored to check 
them, even urged them on with their swords, but in vain ; 
they retreated to the shore. " If we drive them back once 
more," exclaimed Prescott, " they cannot rally again." 
" We are ready for the redcoats again," was the response 
from the redoubt. 

General Clinton watched the movements from Copp's 
Hill. He witnessed the repulse of the " king's regulars " 
with astonishment ; he hastened over as a volunteer with 
reinforcements. Some officers were opposed to another 
attack ; they thought it little short of butchery to lead 
men in the face of such sharp-shooting. Now they learned 
that the ammunition of the Americans was nearly ex- 
hausted. They resolved to carry the redoubt at the point 
of the bayonet. The attack was to be specially directed 
against an open space which they had noticed between 
the breastwork and the fortified fence. The Americans 
used what little powder they had with great efi'ect ; they 
could pour in but a single volley upon the enemy ; but 
by this a number of British officers were slain. The Brit- 
ish, however, advanced with fixed bayonets, and assailed 
the redoubt on three sides. The first who appeared on 
the parapet, as he cried out, " The day is ours," was shot 
down. Now followed a desperate encounter ; those Amer- 
icans who had not bayonets fought with stones and the 
butts of their muskets. It was impossible to maintain the 
ground ; Prescott gave the word, and they commenced an 
orderly retreat. The aged Pomeroy clubbed his musket 
and retreated with his face to the enemy. Stark, Knowl- 
ton, and Eeed, kept their position at the fence till their 
companions had left the redoubt and passed down the 
hill, and thus prevented the enemy from cutting off the 
retreat ; then they slowly retired. 



CHARLES LKE PHILIP SCHUYLER. 333 

About three thousand British were engaged in this chap. 



b" 



xxvni 



buttle, and about fifteen hundred Americans. The British 
lost more than one thousand men, an unusual proportion 1775 
of whom were officers, among whom was Major Pitcairn, 
of Lexington memory ; while the Americans lost but four 
hundred and fifty, but among these was Dr. Warren. He 
was one of the last to leave the redoubt ; he had scarcely 
passed beyond it when he fell. On the morning of that 
day he had expressed himself willing, if necessary, to die 
for his country. — That country has embalmed his name as 
one of the bravest and noblest of her sons. 

The raw militia had met the British " regulars," and 
had proved themselves their equals ; they left the field 
only when destitute of ammunition. 

The British ministry was not satisfied with this vic- 
tory, nor were the Americans discouraged by this defeat. 
When the news of the battle reached England, General 
Gage was at once recalled. When Washington learned 
of it from the courier who was hastening to Congress with 
the news, he exclaimed : " The liberties of the country 
are safe ! " 

This famous battle took place on the seventeenth of 
June ; on the twenty-first Washington, accompanied by 
Generals Lee and Schuyler, left Philadelphia to join the 
army as Commander-in-chief General Charles Lee was 
an Englishman by birth ; a soldier by profession, he had 
been engaged in campaigns in various parts of Europe, 
and in the French war. Frank in disposition, but sar- 
castic in manner, and evidently soured by disappointment, 
he had resigned the British service, and for some reason 
indulged in feelings of bitter animosity to the English 
name. His connection with their cause was counted of 
great consequence by the Americans. 

General PhiUp Schuyler was a native of New York, 
of Dutch descent. As a man of wealth, position, educa- 
tion, and well-known integrity, he had great influence in 



334 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAJT PEOPLE. 

xxTHi' ^'^^*' P'''J^^'^ce. He had some experience, also, in military 

affairs ; during the French war, when a youth of two and 

1775. twenty, he campaigned with Sir William Johnson and his 
Mohawks. Thoiigh in his native province the rich and 
influential were generally loyahsts, from the beginning of 
the troubles Schuyler ardently espoused the cause of the 
colonists. He was versed in civil affairs, having been a 
member of the New York General Assembly, and recently 
a delegate to Congress, where his practical good sense had 
attracted attention. At this time, danger was appre- 
hended from the Mohawks, who lived in the northern and 
central parts of New York. It was feared that, influenced 
by the Johnson family, they would rally against the colo- 
nists. Sir William Johnson, of whom we have spoken, 
the ancestor of this family, was of Scotch-Irish descent, a 
man of vigorous mind but of coarse associations ; he bad 
acquired great influence over the Indians by adopting 
their customs, had married an Indian wife, sister of Brandt, 
the chief, afterward so famous. For nearly thirty years 
he was agent for the Five Nations ; he became rich by 
traffic, and lived in his castle on the Mohawk river, in 
baronial style, with Scotch Highlanders as tenants. Sir 
William was dead, but his son and heir, John Johnson, 
and his son-in-law, Guy Johnson, were suspected of tam- 
pering with the Mohawks. No one knew the state of 
affairs in New York better than Schuyler ; he was ac- 
quainted with the tory aristocracy ; he understood the 
Johnsons, and to him Washington intrusted the charge 
of that province. 

As a singular incident it may be noted, that as Wash- 
ington approached New York by way of New Jersey, the 
ship on board of which was the royalist governor Tryon, 
who was just returning from England, came into the har- 
bor. The committee appointed to do the honors was 
somewhat perplexed. Fortunately their princi2iles were 
•not tested : these two men, the one the representative of 



CONDITION" OF THE ARMY. 335 

tlie Continental Congress, the other of the king, did not ^^^^^ 

reacli the city at the same time. The escort that received 

Washington, were at leisure, a few hours later, to render 1775. 
to Governor Tryon the same honor. 

The Commander-in-chief was met at Springfield hy 
the committee of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, 
and escorted to the camp. The greatest enthusiasm pre- 
vailed ; the soldiers everywhere greeted him with hearty 
cheersv Such a welcome, while it gratifiied his feelings, 
was calculated to increase his sense of responsibility. A 
great work was before him — a work not yet begun ; he 
was to bring order out of confusion ; to lead on the cause 
of freedom to a successful issue. In his letters written 
about this time, he expresses a calm trust in a Divine 
Providence, that wisely orders all things. 

A personal survey of the army revealed more perfectly 
the difficulties to be overcome. It numbered about four- 
teen thousand men ; to be effective, it must be increased 
to twenty or thirty thousand. The troops were unorgan- 
ized and undisciplined, without uniforms, poorly clad, and 
imperfectly armed. To discipline these volunteers would 
be no easy task ; they could not be subjected to strict 
military rule. Even among this noble band of patriot 
officers, were jealousies to be soothed, and prejudices to 
be regarded. Some felt tliat they had lieen overlooked or 
underrated in the appointments made by Congress. 

A council of war resolved to maintain the present line 
of works, to capture the British, or drive them out of 
Boston. Washington chose for his head-quarters a cen- . 
tral position at Cambridge ; here were stationed Major- 
general Putnam and Brigadier-general Heath. General 
Artemas Ward was stationed with the right wing at Rox- 
bury, and General Charles Lee commanded the left on 
Prospect Hill. Under Lee were the Brigadier-generals 
Greene and Sullivan, and under Ward the Generals 



336 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAJf PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Spencer and Thomas. Of this number, Greene merits 

special notice. His father a farmer, miller, and anchor 

1775. smith, as well as occasionally a Quaker preacher, endeavored 
to train his son in his own faith. The son's tastes were 
decidedly military. Of a genial disposition, he was fond 
of social amusements, but never at the expense of things 
more important. He cultivated his mind by reading the 
best English authors of the time on science and history ; 
to do this he snatched the moments from daily toil. Indus- 
trious and strictly temperate, his perceptions were . clear, 
and his love of order almost a passion. With zest he read 
books on military tactics, and before he had laid aside the 
Quaker costume, he took lessons in the science of military 
drill, by watching the exercises and manoeuvres of the 
British troops on parade on Boston Common. Their order 
and precision had a charm for the embryo general. None 
took a deeper interest than he in the questions that agi- 
tated the country, and he was more than once chosen by 
the people to represent them in the Colonial Legislature. 
The army was now joined by some companies of rifle- 
men, mostly Scotch and Irish ; backwoodsmen of Penn- 
sylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, enlisted by orders of 
Congress. They had marched six hundred miles in twenty 
days. If their peculiar dress, the hunting-sbirt, and their 
motto, " Liberty or Death," worn on their head-band, 
their robust appearance, their stature, scarcely one of 
them being less than six feet, excited admiration, much 
more did their feats of sharp-shooting. " When advanc- 
ing at a quick step," it was said, " they could hit a mark 
, of seven inches diameter at a distance of two hundred and 
fifty yards." Their leader, Daniel Morgan, was a native 
of New Jersey, though brought up on the frontiers of 
Virginia. When a youth, his education had been neglect- 
ed ; he could scarcely read or write ; unpolished in his 
manners, generous in his impulses, honorable in his own 
feelings, he instinctively scorned meanness or duplicity in 



THE INFORMATION LAID BEFORE CONGRESS. 33"/ 

others. In his twentieth j'ear, as a wagoner, he took his 
first lessons in warfare in Braddock's unfortunate cam- 
paign. His character adapted itself to emergencies. When 1775. 
left to act in responsible situations, his good sense was 
never at fault ; wherever placed, he performed well his 
part. 

As soon as he obtained the requisite information, 
Washington laid before Congress the state of the army, 
with suggestions as to the best means to furnish it with 
provisions, munitions, and men. He also suggested that 
diversities of uniform had a tendency to encourage sec- 
tional feelings, and recommended Congress to provide, at 
least ten thousand himting-shirts, adding, " I know noth- 
ing in a speculative view more trivial, yet which, if put 
in practice, would have a happier tendency to unite the 
men, and abolish those provincial distinctions that lead to 
jealousy and dissatisfaction." This was the origin of the 
peculiar uniform of American soldiers. A few days after 
this report was sent to Congress, it was discovered that, 
by mistake, a false return of the powder in the camp had 
been made — the supply was nearly exhausted. This dis- 
covery crippled every movement, and left the Americans 
at the mercy of the enemy, should they be attacked. Their 
only safety lay in silence and inaction. Messengers were 
hurried in every direction to collect and send to the camp 
all the powder that could be obtained. In about a fort- 
night they procured a small supply. 

We now turn to affairs in New York, where, it will be 
remembered, Schuyler had command. After their brave 
exploits on Lake Champlain, Arnold and Allen both claim- 
ed authority over the cajjtured forts — the former referred 
to Massachusetts, the latter to Connecticut, to confirm 
their respective claims. As these forts belonged to New 
York, Allen wrote to the Congress of that province for 
supplies of men and money to defend them. But the 
whole matter was, at length, referred to the Continental 



338 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAS PEOPLE. 

CHAP Congress, which decided that New York should have the 

charge of the forts, and authorized it to call upon New 

1775. England for aid in their defence. The call was made upon 
Connecticut, in answer to which Colonel Hinman, with a 
thousand raen, was sent to join Arnold. Allen's Green 
Mountain Boys were by this time disbanded, as their term 
of enlistment had expired. These war spirits, Arnold and 
Allen, had urged ujjon the Continental Congress to fur- 
nish them means to invade Canada. Allen, in company 
with Selh Warner, went in person to that body for au- 
thority to raise a new regiment. It was granted, and the 
New York Congress was recommended to receive this 
regiment of their ancient enemies into the regular army. 
They were to choose their own leader. For some reason 
Warner was chosen, and Allen entirely neglected ; but 
not to be baffled when a fight was on hand, he joined the 
army as a volunteer. Arnold claimed the entire authority 
at Ticonderoga, after the departure of Allen, and difficul- 
ties arose between him and Hinman. A committee sent 
from the Congress of Massachusetts to inquire into the 
matter, decided that the command belonged to Hinman. 
Arnold swore he would not be second, disbanded his men, 
threw up his commission, and hurried to Cambridge. 

Congress was, at first, opposed to the invasion of Can- 
ada, and even thought of dismantling the forts on Lake 
Champlain. Kecent intelligence that the authorities of 
that province were making preparations to recapture the 
forts and to regain the command of the lake, induced 
them to determine upon its invasion in self-defence. 
Schuyler learned that seven hundred of the king's troops 
were in Canada ; that Guy Johnson, with three hundred 
tenants and Indians, was at Montreal ; that St. John's 
was fortified, and war-vessels were building there, and al- 
most ready to pass by the Sorel into the lake. Yet he 
was encouraged by rumors that some of the inhabitants 
were disaffected, and might be induced to join against the 



INVASION OF CANADA — RICHARD MONTGOMERY. 339 

mother country ; if so, the British would be deprived of a £?A^f 

vahiable recruiting station. Two expeditions against 

Canada were determined upon, one by way of Lake Cham- 1''"''5. 
phiin. the other by the rivers Kennebec and Chaudiere. 
The former under Schuyler ; the latter was intrusted to 
Arnold, who was in the camp chafed and disappointed, 
but ready for any daring enterprise that promised dis- 
tinction. 

Operations were to commence by way of the lake, 
where were assembled the New York troops, and some 
from New England. Schuyler was ably seconded by 
Brigadier-general Richard Montgomery. Montgomery was 
a native of Ireland ; had, when a youth, been the com- 
panion of Wolfe in the French war. He resigned the 
British service, and remaining in America, settled in New 
York, where he married. A man of education and refine- 
ment, his generous sentiments led him to esjjouse ardently 
the cause of popular rights. 

General Schuyler passed from Ticonderoga down the 
lake, and took possession of the Isle aux Noix, in the Sorel 
river. This position commanded the entrance into Lake 
Champlain. He then made an attempt on St. John's, ^^^'^■ 
but finding it more strongly garrisoned than had been 
represented, he retired to the Isle aux Noix, with the in- 
tention of fortifying that important post, but severe sick- 
ness compelled him to return to Albany. The command 
devolved upon Montgomery. Schuyler was soon able to 
send him supplies and ammunition, and also reinforce- 
ments under Genei-al Wooster. 

Ethan Allen, as usual, without orders, went on one of 
his rash expeditions. With only eighty-three men, he 
attempted to take Montreal, vi'as overpowered, and taken Sept.. 
prisoner with his men. He himself was sent in irons to 
England, to bo tried as a rebel. Here closed the connec- 
tion of this daring leader of the Green Mountain Boys, 
with the war of the Revolution. He was not tried, but 



Kov, 
3. 



340 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

f'HAP. liberated ; then returned home, but from some dissutis- 

faction took no further part in the struggle. 

1775. Montgomery sent a detachment which took Fort 

Chambly, a few miles further down the river, thus plachig 
troops between St. John's and Canada. Sir Guy Carle- 
ton, the governor of that province, made exertions, but 
without success, to raise a force for the relief of St. John's. 
But when on his way he was repulsed at the passage of 
the St. Lawrence by Colonel Seth Warner ; another party 
going up the Sorel on the same errand was also driven 
back. The garrison at St. John's presently surrendered, 
and immediately the energetic Montgomery pushed on to 
Montreal, which submitted at the first summons, while 
Carleton with a few followers fled down the river to Que- 
bec. This was a very seasonable capture for tlie Ameri- 
cans, as it supplied them with woollen clothes, of which 
necessaries they were in great need. 

Montgomery made great exertions in the midst of dis- 
couragements, arising from insubordination, desertions, 
and the lateness of the season, to push on and join Arnold 
Sept. before Quel)ec. Two months before this time, that leader 
had left tlie camp before Boston with eleven hundred men, 
among wh(im were three companies of riflemen, under 
Morgan, to pass up the Kennebec, and thence across the 
wilderness to Quebec, there to unite with the force from 
New York. Aaron Burr, then a youth of twenty, accom- 
panied this expedition as a volunteer. It was a perilous 
undertaking. The journey was one of intense suffering 
and incessant toil. Six weeks they spent in dragging 
their boats up the river, and carrying the baggage around 
rapids ; they cut their way through thickets and briars, 
forded streams, climbed mountains, breasted storms, and 
were so much in want of food that they devoured their 
dogs, and even their moccasins. Their number was re- 
duced to about six hundred effective men ; one entire divi- 
sion had returned home with the sick and disabled. In a 



QUEBEC BESIEGED. 34] 

forlorn condition the remainder suddenly appeared at chap. 

Point Levi, opposite Quebec. The inhabitants were as- 

tonisbed at the apparition, and could Arnold have crossed 1775. 
immediately, he might have taken the town ; but he was 9 ' 
unable to do so for want of boats. In a few days came 
Carleton from Montreal ; he put the town in a state of 
defense, and increased his force to twelve hundred men, 
by enlisting traders, sailors, and others. 

Although two armed vessels were on the watch, Ar- 
nold raanaged to cross the St. Lawrence, clambered up 
the Heights of Abraham, by the same rugged path that 
Wolfe had used, and boldly challenged the garrison to 
battle. The contest was declined. It was useless for him 
to attempt to besiege the town without cannon, so he 
moved twenty miles up the river, where he met Mont- 
gomery. The toilsome march through the 'wilderness 
nearly strijiped Arnold's men of their clothes ; the wool- 
lens obtained at Montreal were to them also an acceptable 
protection against the rigors of a Canada winter. 

Their united force amounted to only nine hundred 
men. With these, Montgomery, who assumed the com- 
mand, advanced to Quebec. The flag he sent to demand 
a surrender was fired upon. A battery must be built ; 
the ordinary material was not at hand, but ingenuity sup- 
plied its place. Gabions were filled with snow and ice, 
over which water was poured, and a Canada winter soon 
rendered them solid, but- no ingenuity could render the 
ice otherwise than brittle — every shot from the town shat- 
tered it in pieces. It was now found that their cannon 
were too small. They could not batter the walls, and it 
was as fruitless to attempt to scale them. Some other . 
plan must be adopted. 

It was determined to make a sudden attack on the 
lower town. Montgomery, with one division, was to ad- 
vance upon the south side, while Arnold was to make an 
attempt upon the north. At the same time, feint move- 



342 HISTOET OF THE AMERICA2S' PEOPLE. 

XXVni "^*-'"*^ ^^^'^ *o be made against the upper town, and signal 

rockets fired from the different points to distract and 

1775. divert the attention of the enemy. On the thirty-first of 
";^] " December a blinding snow-storm favored their enterprise. 
At two o'clock on the morning of that day they were on 
the march. The feint tliat was to cover the movement of 
Montgomery was successful. Undiscovered he descended 
from the Heights of Abraham, passing safely around Cape 
Diamond to the defile that led to the town. The pass, at 
all times difficult, was now obstructed liy ice and drifting 
snow. It was defended by barriers guarded by Canadian 
militia. Taken by surprise, they fled from the picket. 
Montgomery passed the first barrier unopposed. As he 
ste2>pcd beyond it, sanguine and exultant with hope, he 
exclaimed : " Push on, my brave boys ; Quebec is ours ! " 
Just then, a single gun loaded with grape-shot was fired 
from a battery ; he fell, and by his side his aids and many 
others, who had answered to his cheering call. The sol- 
diers, disheartened at the fall of their brave leader, were 
willing to abandon the town, under the lead of Quarter- 
master Campbell, leaving the bodies of the slain Mont- 
gomery, Cheeseman, and MacPherson where they fell. 

By some neglect, no feint movement was made to 
cover the march of Arnold. He was harassed by a flank- 
ing fire as he pushed on to the entrance of the town. His 
leg being shattered by a ball, he was unable to lead his 
men against the battery. Morgan assumed the command, 
and with his riflemen stormed it, and captured the men. 
At daylight he reached the second battery, which was also 
carried; but now the forces of the British were concen- 
trated at this point. Morgan's party made a brave resist- 
ance, but were overpowered by numbers, and compelled 
to surrender. He himself was the last to submit. When 
called upon by the British soldiers to deliver up his sword, 
he refused, planted himself against a wall, and defied them 
to take it. They threatened to shoot him ; his men expos- 



MORGAN AND HIS MEN PRISONERS. 343 

tulateJ, At length he saw a man — a priest he knew him 9i\i)^ 

to be frurn his dress ; to him he gave it, saying : " I will 

give my sword to you, hut not a scoundrel of those cow- 1775. 
ards shall take it out of my h mds." The bravery of 
Morgan and his men was appreciated by Carleton ; as 
prisoners, they were treated with si:)ecial kindness. 

Arnold now retired about three miles up the river, 
and there in a camp whose ramparts were formed of frozen 
snow and of ice, he blockaded Quebec through the winter. 
Here we leave him for the i^resent. 

Montgomery was at first buried at Quebec. When 
nearly half a century had passed away. New York remem- 
bered her adopted son. She transferred his remains to her 
metropolis, and with appropriate honors reinterred them 1818. 
in St. Paul's church-yard. 



CHAPTEE XXIX. 

WAR OF THE REVOLUTIOX— CONTINUED. 

Meeting of Congress ; alarming Evils require its Attention. — British Cruis 
ers. — Portland burned. — Efforts to defend the Coast. — Congress acts 
with Energy. — Parliament resolves to crush the Kebels. — Henry Knox. — 
Difficulties in the Army. — Provincial Prejudices. — Success of the Priva- 
teers. — British Theatricals. — The Union Flag. — Affairs in New York. — 
Rivington's Gazette. — Governor Tryon. — General Lee in the City. — The 
Johnsons. — Dunmore's Measures in Virginia ; Norfolk burned. — Defeat 
of North Carolina Tories. — Lee at the South. — Cannon and Powder ob- 
tained. — Dorchester Heights fortified. — Boston Evacuated. — Washing- 
ton in New York. — British and German Troops in Canada. — Numerous 
Disasters. — The Retreat from Canada. — Horatio Gates. — A British Fleet 
before Fort Moultrie. — Gloomy Prospects. 

OHAP. When the Continental Congress reassembled, delegates 

XXIX. ! o 

L from Georgia took their seats, for the first time, and the 

1775. style was assumed of The Thirteen United Colonies. 
''g'*'^' During the session, a delegate from beyond the moun- 

Oiit. tains presented himself as the representative of the colony 
of Transylvania, the germ of the present State of Ken- 
tucky, (settled by those bold pioneers, Boone, Harrod, 
and Henderson), but the delegate of the fourteenth colony 
was rejected, on the ground that Virginia claimed the 
territory. 

Alarming evils required the prompt attention of Con- 
gress. The army was almost destitute of ammunition 
and military stores ; the coast, to a great extent, unpro- 
tected ; British cruisers hovered on the shores of New 
England ; demanded of the inhabitants supplies ; burned 



PORTLAND BUBNEU PLANS OF DEFENCE. 345 

:iud pillaged the towns. The notorious Captain Wallace !^^^' 

was stationed in Narragansett Bay ; Stonington and Bris- 

tol had been bombarded, and Newport was threatened 1775. 
with destruction. The British Admiral, Graves, it was ^ ' 
said, had issued orders to burn all the rebel towns from 
Halifax to Boston. This was no idle rumor. At Fal- 
mouth, now Portland, in Maine, the destruction began. 
This patriotic little town had, some time before, resolutely 18. 
repulsed Lieutenant Mowatt of the British navy. One 
evening he appeared with several vessels in the harbor, 
prepared to mete out the punishment due for such rebel- 
lion. He informed the inhabitants of his intention, and 
allowed them two hours " to remove the human species 
out of the town." A further 1-espite until nine o'clock 
next morning was with difficulty obtained. The people 
removed during the night ; then, by means of bombs and 
carcasses, this flourishing village of three hundred houses 
was laid in ashes. The other towns assumed a posture 
of defence, and avoided a similar ruin. 

The colonies separately took measures to defend their 
coasts against such attacks. Already Maryland, Virginia, 
and South Carolina had appointed Naval Boards, and 
equipped armed vessels. The British ships had been 
driven from the harbor at Charleston ; a jjowder-ship had 
been captured by a South Carolina vessel. Washington 
had sent cruisers into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, to intercept supplies intended for the 
enemy. One of these, the schooner Lee, commanded by 
Captain Manly, deserves particular mention. She did 
the country good service. Khode Island, Massachusetts, 
and Connecticut, now equipped a few small vessels. Al- 
though a few harbors were thus defended, the force that 
protected the coast was still insufficient. 

Congress applied themselves vigorously to remedy 
these evils They forwarded some of the powder seized by 



Nov. 

25 



346 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

•^HAP. tho South Carolinians to the camp ; appointed a secret 

. committee to import it from the West Indies ; took meas- 

1775. ures to establish mills for its manufacture, raid fouuderies 
for the making of cannon. They licensed privateers, and 
ordered gun-boats to be prepared for the defence of the 
harbors ; appointed a Naval Committee, vyhich vras au- 
thorized to build thirteen frigates ; but, alas ! want of 
funds interfered sadly vv'ith the accomplishment of these 
proposed measures. 
Dec. ]n this Naval Committee we recognize the germ of 

13 o o 

the Navy Department. About this time a secret com- 
mittee was authorized to open a private correspondence 
with the friends of the cause in England, Ireland, and 
elsewhere ; this grew into the State Department. Thus 
was the Continental Congress gradually laying the foun- 
dation of the present government of the United States. 

Parliament, in the mean time, took measures to crush 
the " rebels ; " enacted laws against them, cruel in the 
extreme ; gave orders to treat them in warfare not as 
equals, but as criminals, who should be thankful to escape 
the gallows. The ministry proclaimed all ships trading 
to tlie colonies lawful prizes ; and the crews of all cap- 
tured colonial tiading vessels virtually slaves ; these were 
doomed to serve in the royal navy as marines. Parlia- 
ment also voted to increase their army in America to 
forty thousand men — of this number twentj^-five thousand 
Kov. had yet to be raised. They could not be obtained in 
Great Britain ; men would not enlist. Lord Howe had 
written to the ministry that Catholic Irish soldiers could 
not be trusted, and suggested the employment of German 
troops. Negotiations were accordingly commenced with 
two of the little German principalitie.s, Brunswick and 
Hesse Cassel ; and the English monarch hired seventeen 
thousand Germans, or Hessians, to aid him in subduing 
the descendants of Englishmen in America. In vain did 



HENRY KNOX COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS. 347 

the best and most humane in raiiiament oppose these <^hai' 

measures. There was in England an honorable minority, 

who felt for the cause of the colonists. Burke and Barre I77j. 
stood firm ; Conway and the Duke of Grafton resigned 
their offices, and joined the opposition ; Lord Effingham 
and the son of Pitt threw up their commissions in the 
ariuy, rather than take part in the unnatural struggle. 
The mercantile interests of the country, and especially 
the Corporation of -London, were opposed to the measures 
of Parliament. Intelligence of them aroused the Ameri- 
cans to greater exertions, and deepened their hostility to 
the mother country. 

Since the battle of Bunker Hill, the armies in and 
around Boston had been inactive — the British from choice, 
the Americans from want of ammunition. Washington 
was anxious to be ready, when the bay should be frozen 
to pass over to the town on the ice. But he must have 
powder and ordnance. 

Henry Knox, a bookseller of Boston, had entered with 
groat zeal into the cause of his country. He had an in- 
tuitive skill in the use of artillery, which he first displayed ■ 
on Bunker Hill, and afterward in planning the defences 
of the camp. His aptness and energy attracted the atten- 
tion of Washington-. Knox proposed to go to Ticonde- 
roga and Crown Point, and bring from those places the 
cannon and powder that could be spared. Washington ap- 
proved the suggestion, wrote to Schuyler at Albany to give 
his assistance, and to Congress, recommending Knox as col- 
onel of a regiment of artillery. Knox immediately set out. 

Other difficulties surrounded the army. The soldiers 
had enlisted but for one year, their terms would expire 
before the first of January. Li anticipation of this, a 
committee of the Continental Congress, consisting of Doc- 
tor Franklin, Colonel Harrison, of Virginia, and Thomas 
Lynch, of Carolina, met at Cambridge, with committees 



348 HISTOET OF THE AlIEKICAN PEOPLE. 

^,^AP. from the New England colonies, to reorganize the army, 

and to de\dse means to increase it to thirty-two thousand. 

1775. The comuiittees were in favor of an attack upon Bos- 

ton as soon as practicable. Their plans were well laid, 
but how could they be carried out .'' The soldiers were 
unwilling to re-enlist ; the zeal of the patriot army had 
begun to flag ; winter was coming on ; they were iU-fitted 
to endure its hardships ; their fuel was scanty and their 
clothing poor ; their families needed their presence ; the 
attractions of home presented a delightful contrast to the 
privations of a winter campaign. Their patriotism was 
not extinct, but they were weary and discouraged. Says 
"Washington, in a letter : " The desire of retiring into a 
chimney-corner seized the troops as soon as their terms 
expired." 

Those who were willing to re-enlist, would do so only 
on certain conditions. They must hnow imder what oifi- 
cers they were to be placed. Provincial prejudices had 
their effect ; the men of one colony hesitated to serve 
with those of another, or under officers not of their own 
choosing. It is pleasing to record one instance of high- 
■ minded patriotism — doubtless there were many. Colonel 
Asa Whitcombe, a worthy and esperienced officer, was 
not reappointed on account of his advanced age. His men 
took offence, and refused to re-enlist. The colonel set 
them an example by enlisting himself as a private soldier. 
A j'ounger officer immediately resigned the command of 
his regiment that Whitcombe might be appointed, which 
was done. 

On the first of December, some days before their terms 
expired, a portion of the Connecticut troops began to re- 
turn home ; they were unwilling even to remain in camp 
till their places could be supplied. Their arms were re- 
tained at an assessed value. 

In the midst of this gloom, the privateers did good 
service. The camp was thrown into ecstasies by the 



DESECRATIONS — THE UNION FLAG. 840 

anival of a lonn; train of wao;oiis laden with military stores. pHAP 

. ° IXIX. 

The brave Captain Manly had captured off Cape Ann a . 

brigantine laden with guns, mortars, and working tools, 1775. 
designed for the British army. Among the camion thus 
obtained was an immense mortar. This was deemed so 
great a prize, that in the joy of the moment, it was pro- 
posed to give it a name. " Old Putnam mounted it, 
dashed on it a bottle of rum, and gave it the name of 
Congress." 

The blockade of the British was so stringent, that they 
began to suffer seriously for fuel and fresh provisions : 
they could obtain none from the land side, while the coast 
was closely watched. Abundant supplies were sent from 
England, but these were often wrecked or captured. Some 
of the poorer houses were taken down to supply fuel, and 
many of the poorer people sent out of the town, in order 
to lessen the demand for provisions. 

To the grief of the patriot inhabitants, the Old South 
Church, that time-honored and sacred edifice, was con- 
verted into a riding-school for Burgoyue's light-horse, and 
the pastor's library used to kindle fires. In retaliation, 
the soldiers converted the Episcopal church at Cambridge 
into barracks, and melted the leaden pipes of the organ 
into bullets. The British officers beguiled their time by 
getting up balls and theatricals. Among the plays per- 
formed was one, written by General Burgoyne, caricatur- 
ing the American army and its officers. 

On the first of January the Union Flag was unfurled, 1776. 
for the first time, over the camp at Cambridge. It was 
emblematic of the state of the country. The English 
cross retained in one corner, intimated a still existing 
relation with the mother country, while the thirteen 
stripes of red and white that represented the thirteen 
colonies, now united for self-government and resistance to 



350 HISTOEY OF THE AMERICAN FEOPLE„ 

CHAP, oppression, were broadly significant of tlie New Republic 

that was to grow out of this union. 

1776, The year opened drearily for the patriots. There were 

less than ten thousand men in the camp, among whom 
were many undisciplined recruits, and many without arms. 
The people were impatient, — why not capture or drive 
the enemy out of Boston ? they asked on all sides. The 
situyticm of Washington was painful in the extreme : he 
could not publish bis reasons, lest the enemy should learn 
his weakness. Under these circumstances, he writes thus 
to a confidential friend : " We are now left with a good 
deal less than half-raised regiments, and^bout five thou- 
sand militia. * * * If I shall be able to rise superior to 
these, and many other difficulties, which might be enu- 
merated, I shall most religiously believe that the finger of 
Providence is in it, to blind the eyes of our enemies. ''' 

About this time, ships commanded by Sir Henry Clin- 
ton left the harbor of Boston on a secret expedition. It 
was justly surmised that he was bound for New York. 
We turn once more to the state of affairs in that province. 

As has been said, much of the wealth and influence 
of New York was on the side of the Tories. Richmond 
and Queen's counties had refused to send delegates to the 
Provincial Congress. Governor Tryon, who had retired 
to a British man-of-war in the harbor, kept up a corre- 
spondence with the friends of the royal cause in the city. 
There was published the most influential Tory journal in 
the country, " Rivington's Gazette" — "a thorn in the 
side of the patriots." Many who were opposed to this 
journal were unwilling to adopt violent measures ; the 
committee of safety refused to interfere with it. Colonel 
Isaac Sears, one of the boldest and most energetic of the 
New York Sons of Liberty, collected, in Connecticut, 
about a hundred horsemen, dashed into the city, broke the 
press and carried away the types to New Haven. 



GEXEEAL LEE IN NEW YORK. 



351 



. The possession of New York, as it was " the key to g^P- 

the whole continent, a passage to Canada*, to the great 

Lakes, and to all the Indian nations," was all-important 1770. 
to tlie patriots. It was determined to place troops there. 
Sears, seconded by the authority of Governor Trumbull, 
proceeded to form regiments in Connecticut. Washington 
ordered General Charles Lee to take command of these 
regiments, and proceed with them to New York, put that 
city in a state of defence, call in aid from New Jersey to 
disarm the Tories on Long Island and elsewhere — duties 
which Lee proceeded forthwith to perform. Governor 
Tryon threatened to bombard the city if he entered it 
with the Connecticut troops. The people were greatly 
alarmed. The Provincial Congress requested Lee not to 
advance for the "present. He was determined to push on 
with a sufficient number of troops to secure the city, and 
threatened in his turn, " if they make a pretext of my 
presence to fire on the town, the first house set on flames 
by their guns shall be the funeral-pile of some of their best 
friends." He entered the city on Sunday, February fourth, Feb. 
and encamped on the spot where the City Hall now stands, '^' 
then a suburb known as " The Fields." 

The threats and counter-threats had wrought up the 
feelings of the people to a state of intense excitement. 
During the day this was greatly increased ; cannon were 
heard from the Narrows. Sir Henry Clinton was entering 
the harbor. Many of the inhabitants hastened from the 
city ; on the afternoon of that Sabbath day, Kingsbridge 
was thronged with people and wagons, on their way to the 
country. But these fears were soon relieved. Clinton 
gave notice that he came merely to pay a visit to bis 
" friend Tryon." He remained but a short time, then 
sailed away to North Carolina. His mysierious expedition 
and his " whimsical civility" to his " friend Tryon " gave 
rise to much speculation ; though, as he bad but few 



852 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^xx\x *™°P^' ^"^ movements had, as yet, created but little alarm. 

Lee now proceeded to put the city in a state of defence. 

1776. 

Serious difficulties threatened the interior of the prov- 
ince. Guy Johnson had retired to Canada ; Sir John 
Johnson had fortified his " Hall," and gathered about him 
his Highlanders and Mohawks. Schuyler proceeded to 
J'l"- disarm and disband this dangerous company. Sir John 
gave his parole not to take up arms against America. A 
few months afterward he was suspected of breaking his 
word ; to avoid arrest, he fled to Canada, where he re- 
ceived a colonel's commission, and organized the regi- 
ments called the " Royal Greens," afterward so renowned 
for deeds of cruelty. 

During this winter. Governor Dunmore, of Virginia, 
who, like Tryon, had taken refuge in one of the king's 

June, ships, had been engaged in intrigues against the colonists. 

Dec. He sent a vessel to Boston with supplies, which, however, 
was captured. In a letter found on board, he had invited 
General Howe to transfer the seat of war to the South ; 
he also landed at Norfolk, carried off a printing press, pub- 
lished a proclamation that promised freedom to the slaves 
or indented white servants of the patriots, who would join 
his cause. With a force thus collected he took possession 
of the town. Fugitive slaves and others began to flock 
to his banner. Virginia raised new regiments to dislodge 
him, and oppose strong movements that were making in 

Jan., his favor. The second regiment, under Woodford, took 

1776. possession of the narrow neck which connects Norfolk with 
the mainland, and compelled Dunniore to re-embark. 
Soon after he returned, bombarded the town, and landed 
a party who burned a portion of it to the ground. The 
patriots burned the remainder lest it should afford shelter 
to its enemies. Thus perished the principal shipping port 
of Virginia, her largest and richest town. 



TORIES DEFEATED — CHARLESTON THREATENED. 353 

The British were secretly planninrr an invasion of the chap. 

•' ^ ° . xxi.x. 

South. Governor Martin, of North Carolina, who, like 

many of the royal governorg of that day, carried on opera- lT7fi. 
tions from on hoard a ship, was stirring up the Tories of 
that province, many of whom were Highlanders. He 
hoped to gather a land force to co-operate with Sir Peter 
Parker, who was on his way from Ireland with a fleet of 
ten ships, on board of which were seven regiments. The 
movements of Sir Henry Clinton could now he accounted 
for. He had left Boston to take command of the land forces 
in this intended invasion : he stopped to confer on the sub- 
ject with Tryon, who had been governor of North Carolina. 

Martin had commissioned two prominent Scotchmen, 
McDonald and McLeod — both recent emigrants, and offi- 
cers of the British army. General McDonald enlisted 
some fifteen hundred men, and marched for the coast, but 
the North Carolina patriots were on the alert. He was 
intercepted at Moore's Creek Bridge, sixteen miles from Feb. 
Wilmington. Colonel McLeod was killed ; McDonald 
and eight hundred and fifty loyalists were taken prisoner?. 
He and his officers were sent away to the north. 

This defeat, which at the first glance may appear of 
little consequence, was important in its bearing ; it inter- 
fered for a time with the plans of Clinton and Martin. 
This delay was most valuable to the patriots ; they had 
time to collect forces and mature plans for defence. Gen- 
eral Lee was appointed by Congress to take command of 
the southern army and to watch Clinton, who was hover- 
ing on the coast in exjiectation of the British squadron. 
After long delays it arrived at the mouth of Cape Fear May. 
River. Congress learned from intercepted letters that 
Charlestori was to be attacked. There, at the first alarm, 
six thousand men, from Virginia and the Carolinas, had 
assembled. The indefatigable Lee reached the city just 
as Clinton appeared in the harbor. Had the enemy at- 
tacked that place at once, they might have taken it with 
23 



354 HISTORY OF THE AJIEBICAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP. ease. It was, wrote Lee, " perfectly defenceless." The 

1 opportunity was not improved, and both parties began to 

1776. fortify and prepare for a contest. Here wo leave them for 
™® the present, and return to the camp before Boston. 

During the month of January there was little im- 
provement in the state of the army. On the tenth of 
February Washington writes : " Without men, without 
arms, without ammunition, lit-tle is to be done." The 
patriots had looked hopefully toward Canada, only to be 
disappointed. Montgomery had fallen ; Morgan and his 
brave band were prisoners ; the remnant of the shattered 
forces that Hngeted with Arnold in his icy fijrtress before 
the walls of Quebec, could accomplish notiiing. The 
whole line of the Atlantic coast was threatened ; and in 
view of these circumstances Washington was anxious to 
strike a decisive blow, that should encourage the despond- 
ing and revive popular enthusiasm. In truth, the state 
of public feeling demanded such a courfc. Congress had 
Pec. authorized him to push the attack upon Boston, to the 
1775. (jegtruction of the town, should it be necessary. John 
Hancock, who had large possessions there, said : " Do it, 
and may God crown your attempt with success." When 
the bay became frozen, Washington was impatient to cross 
over on the ice ; again and again he proposed an attack, 
but a council of war as often decided that the force was 
still too weak, the ammunition too scant. Meanwhile, 
Putnam was actively engaged in constructing works on 
the neighboring heights. Many of the labors conducted 
by the brave old general had to be attended to in the night- 
time, to avoid the tire from the enemy's siiips. Toward 
spring, affairs began to wear a brighter aspect. Ten new 
regiments of militia were enlisted ; the great want that 
paralyzed every effort — powder — was supplied from various 
quarters ; some was obtained from New York, some from 
Bermuda : the Connecticut mills were also in operation 



DORnHESTER HEIGHTS TO BE FORTIFIED. 355 

Now, to the great joy of the camp, Knox returned with ^|^^'- 

his long train of sledges laden with ammunition, and can- 

non of various kinds. With the joy was mingled admira- 1776. 
tion for the energy displayed. He had travelled more 
than four hundred miles, over frozen streams and through 
a wUderness obstructed by the snows of winter. The dull 
monotony of inaction gave way to bustle and excitement. 
All was now ready for active operations. The heights 
that commanded the town must be seized and fortified. 
Putnam had already fortified Lechmere Point, on the 
north ; there he had mounted his famous " Congress : " 
that point had only to be supplied with more large cannon 
and with powder. Now the main object was to secure 
Dorchester Heiglits, which commanded the town on the 
south, and also the harbor. This would compel the enemy 
to leave the town, or bring on a general engagemenli : 
plans were laid accordingly. 

To divert the attention of the enemy while prepara- 
tions were in progress, Boston was to be bombarded, and 
cannonaded from difl'erent points. Should the Americans 
attain the heights, and the enemy. attempt to dislodge 
them, Putnam, with four thousand picked men, was pre- 
pared to cross Charles river and attack the north part of 
the town. 

Washington, deeply impressed with the importance of 
the coming struggle, issued orders forbidding " all playing 
at cards or other games of chance," adding, " In this time 
of public distress, men may find enough to do in the ser- 
vice of God and their country, without abandoning them- 
selves to vice and immorality." He also warned the troops, 
" If any man in actigh shall presume to skulk, hide him- 
self, or retreat from the enemy without orders, he wiU be 
instantly shot down as an example of cowardice." 

The fourth of March was fixed upon for the enterprise. 
On the evening of that day, the detachment under Gen- 
eral Thomas, designed to occupy the heights, moved as 



Mr.r 
4. 



856 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^^HAP. quietly as possible. In the advance were eiffht hundred 

men ; then came the carts with the intrenching tools ; 

1770 then twelve hundred more men, and in the rear were three 
hundred wagons laden with bales of hay and bundles of 
fagots to be used in making the breastwork. They reached 
the heights about eight o'clock ; amid the roar of artillery 
— for the enemy were returning the fire directed againsi 
them with great spirit — the noise of the wagons and the 
necessary bustle of the movement had been unheard. 
Though the earth was frozen eighteen inches deep, they 
threw up an embankment, and used their hay and other 
material to great advantage. During that night of labor, 
the Commander-in-chief was drawn by his interest to the 
spot. In the morning the fortificatioii appeared very 
formidable. General Howe, as he examined it through 
the mist, exclaimed : " The rebels have done more work 
in one night than my whole army would have done in a 
month." The patriots, at this crisis, watched the move- 
ments of the enemy with intense interest. A cannonade 
was opened upon the heights, but without much effect. 
Howe did not attempt to storm the works. A night 
attack was resolved upon, but a furious storm arose, the 
ships of war could render no service, nor could the boats 
land in the heavy surf Before the storm was over, the 
Americans were too strong to be assaulted. A council of 
war advised Howe to evacuate the town, as both it and 
the shipping were exposed to a destructive bombardment. 
To insure the safety of his army during the embarkation, 
Howe appiealed to the fears of the inhabitants ; he inti- 
mated he would burn the town if his troops were fired 
upon. A deputation of citizens made this known, in an 
informal manner to Washington, and the British were 
suffered to depart unmolested. 

Eleven days were employed in the embarkation. About 

• fifteen hundred loyalists made ready to leave with the 

departing army ; thus was the good city of Boston purged 



WASHINGTON IN NEW YORK. 357 

of its Tory population. Authorized by Howe, the British chap. 

demanded of the inhabitauts all the linen and woollen 

goods ; salt, molasses, and other necessaries were destroyed. 1776. 
Crean Brush, a New York Tory, who was commissioned to 
take charge of the goods that were seized, took advantage 
of his authority, and broke open and pillaged stores and 
private houses, as did some of the soldiers. The embarka- 
tion was hastened, at the last, by a false alarm that the 
Americans were about to assault the town. 

On the next Monday, March eighteenth, Washington ^^j,^ 
entered the city. He was received with joy by the remain- 18. 
ing inhabitants. After a siege of ten months Boston was 
again free ; above it waved the Union flag of thirteen 
stripes. The British fleet, consisting of one hundred and 
fifty vessels, lay for some days in Nantasket roads, and 
then bore away. Washington feared its destination was 
New York. As soon as possible he hastened thither with 
the main body of the army. , Five regiments remained at 
Boston with General Ward. Soon afterward he resigned, 
but served the cause in the Massachusetts council and in 
Congress. 

The land rejoiced greatly at this success. On motion 
of John Adams, Congress gave Washington a unanimous 
vote of thanks, and ordered a gold medal to be struck in 
commemoration of the event. 

The expenses of the war were so great, that just before ^*^'^- 
this Congress had been obliged to issue four additional 
millions of continental paper. A financial committee had 
been appointed, and now an auditor-general and assistants April. 
were to act under this committee ; this assumed the form 
of a Treasury Department. Two months later Congress 
established a War Office, and appointed a committee of 
five members to superintend its operations. To act as 
oliairman of this committee, John Adams resigned the 
office of chief justice of Massachusetts, 



358 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAK PEOPLE. 

^HAP. AVasliingtou reached New York on the thirteenth of 

April ; there he found much to be done. The Heights 

1776. of Long Island, Kingshridge, the main avenue from the 
citj^ by land, were at best but imperfectly guarded, and 
many prominent points on the river and Sound were en- 
tirely undefended. 

Governor Tryon and the British ships in the harbor 
were in constant communication with the Tories in the 
city. To guard against these dangers, external and inter- 
nal, Wasliington had but eight thousand effective men. 
General Greene was sent with one division to fortify what 
is now Brooklyn Heights, on Long Island, as they com- 
manded New York. He was also to make himself familiar 
with the surrounding country. U rged by the commander- 
in-chief, the committee of safety were induced to prohibit 
all intercourse with Governor Tryon. Any such inter- 
course, if discovered, was to be severely punished. But 
Tryon, aided by sjDies and agents, continued his efforts in 
the king's cause. A conspiracy, to which he had insti- 
gated the Tories, was fortunately discovered. Some of 
these may have been true loyalists, but there were others 
basely won by the promise of reward. In low taverns and 
drinking-saloons the patriot soldiers were tampered with. 
The mayor of the city was arrested, as well as some of 
Washington's body-guard, charged with being concerned 
in the plot. One of the guard, Thomas Hickey, a deserter 
from the British army, was hanged, " for mutiny, sedition, 
and treachery." This example alarmed the Tories, and 

June we hear of no more plots. 
28. 

For the first time Washington learned of the measures 

Yi;>' of the British Parliament. The hired Hessian and Ger- 
17. ... 

man troops were landing in Canada. New apprehensions 

were awakened for the army in that province. Great 

efforts were made to reinforce it ; regiments were sent 

under Sullivan and Thompson. Early in the spring Gen- 



AMERICAN TEOOPS DRIVEN OUT OF CANADA. 350 

eral Wooster had joined Arnold, and taken the command chap. 

at Quebec. But it was not easy for Arnold to act in con- , 

cert with a superior officer ; as usual, he had difficulty 1776. 
with Wooster, and retired to Montreal. Soon after Woos- 
ter was recalled, and Thomas, now a major-general, was 
appointed to the northern army. General Carleton was 
strongly reinforced, and Thomas was compelled to make 
a 'hasty retreat from hefore Quebec — so hasty, that the 
baggage, the artillery, and even the sick were left behind. 
The noble humanity of Carleton deserves to be recorded. 
He sought out the sick, many of whom had hid from him 
in terror, conveyed them to the general hospitals, and prom- 
ised that on their recovery they should be permitted to 
return home. Thomas hastened to the Sorel, where, on June, 
the second of June, he died of the small-pox, which pre- 
vailed greatly in the army. Though the army once more 
changed its commander, there was no change in its pros- 
pects ; they continued to be of the gloomiest character. 
Carleton came pressing on with a force of thirteen thou- 
sand men. General Thompson, with a portion of the 
American troops, was defeated at Three Rivers ; and he, 
with bis officers and many of his men, were taken prison- 
ers. Those who escaped joined Sullivan on the Sorel. 

Arnold had been equally unfortunate at Montreal. He 
stationed a detachment of four hundred men at a point 
called The Cedars, about forty miles above that place, in 
order to intercept the stores sent to the enemy. As this 
post was threatened with an attack, it was shamefully 
surrendered by Colonel Butterworth, without a blow. A 
reinforcement sent to their aid was also taken prisoners. 
Arnold now joined Sullivan. A council of war decided 
upon a retreat, and tbe wreck of the army passed out of 
Canada, followed by a strong British force. 

The army was in a deplorable condition when it reached 
Crown Point. To use the words of John Adams, it was 
" defeated, discontented, dispirited, diseased, no clothes, 



360 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^HAP. beds, blankets, nor medicines ; no victuals but salt pork 

and flour." Thus ended this invasion, famous for its 

1776. daring exploits and numerous disasters. 

Congress approved of Sullivan's prudent retreat ; they 
did not, however, confirm him in the authority that had 
devolved upon bim on the death of General Thomas. 
They appointed Major-general Gates to the command, 
and awarded Sullivan a vote of thanks — an honor as un- 
satisfactory to him as it was empty in itself Sullivan 
was deeply wounded, as was General Schuyler, for Gates 
claimed the command, not only of the forces on Lake 
Champlain, but of the whole northern army. 

Horatio Gates, like Lee, was of foreign birth ; like 
him, he was a disappointed man. Of his very early life 
little is known. He served in America under Braddock, 
in the West Indies under Monckton ; but as he did not 
receive from his native England the honors which he 
thought his due, he sold his commission in the British 
army, and retired to Virginia, where he renewed his ac-' 
quaintance with Washington, and with his former asso- 
ciate, General Lee. Gates was ambitious, and the revo- 
lution opened a path to distinction. As an office-seeker 
he had, it is said, learned to " flatter and accommodate 
himself to the humors of others." He could be " the boon 
companion of gentlemen, and ' hail fellow well met ' with 
the vulgar." He ingratiated himself with the New Eng- 
landers, with whom, for some reason, Schuyler was un- 
popular. Through their influence, it is thought, Gates 
obtained what he aimed at — promotion. The enemies of 
Schuyler advanced serious charges against him ; attribu- 
ted to him the failure of the Canada expedition, and even 
hinted at treason. There is an instinct common to noble 
minds by which they discern truth in others. Washington 
never doubted the integrity of Schuyler, nor did Congress 
sustain Gates in his claim to supersede him. The appoint- 



BRITISH FLEET BEFORE FORT MOULTRIE. 361 

ment of the latter, they said, referred only to the forces ^?-^{' 

while in Canada ; elsewhere he was subordinate to Schuy- 

ler. The difficulty was passed over, as the result of a IVTO. 
mistake, and the rival commanders assumed the appear- 
ance of satisfaction. 

We now return to Charleston, where we left both par- 
ties preparing for a contest. On tlie fate of Sullivan's 
Island, the key to the harbor, the result seemed to depend. 
One party was making ready to attack, the otlier to de- 
fend it. On the south-west point of this island was a tort 
commanded by Colonel William Moultrie. Fort Moultrie 
was constructed of logs of palmetto, a wood soft and 
spongy ; cannon-balls could not splinter it. Lee, not 
familiar with the palmetto, thought it madness to attempt 
to defend so fragile a fort ; he contemptuously styled it 
the " Slaughter-pen." This important post was threat- 
ened by sea and land. Before it lay the British fleet 
under Sir Peter Parker. Sir Henry Clinton, with two 
thousand men, had taken possession of Long Island, which 
lay to the east of Sullivan's Island, and was separated 
from it only by a narrow creek. Here he was erecting 
batteries to cover his passage across the creek, to assault 
the fort when the fire of the ships should make a breach. 
To oppose him the Americans stationed a force under 
Colonel Thompson on the opposite side of the creek. Lee 
took his position on a point of the mainland north of the 
island, where he stood ready, at any moment, to aid either 
Thompson or Moultrie. 

The strength of the fort was now to be tested. On 
the twenty-eighth of June the formidable fleet of Parker 
advanced and commenced a " most furious fire," which 
was returned with great spirit. The firing had but little 
effect upon the low wooden fort, while the ships of the 
enemy were almost torn in pieces. In the midst of the 
terrific roar of artillery the Americans stood bravely to 



June 
28. 



362 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

XXIX '^^^'"^ »^"^ ' ^°™® °^ them remained at their posts even 

after they had lost a limb. For ten hours the battle 

1776. raged without intermission. Then Sir Peter drew off his 
shi^js. Among the slain was Lord CamjAiell, ex-governor 
of the province, who fought as a volunteer on board the 
admiral's ship. 

Sir Henry Clinton made repeated attempts to reach 
Sullivan's Island, but was as often foiled by the batteries 
of Thoinpson. Several of the ships ran aground ; one, 
the Acteon, was set on fire with her guns loaded and colors 
flying, and then abandoned. The Americans, determined 
to secure a trophy, boarded the burning vessel, fired her 
guns at the retreating enemy, took possession of her colors, 
loaded three boats with stores, and departed in safety, 
before she blew up. Among the many heroic incidents 
connected with this battle, one is related of Sergeant Jas- 
per. The flag-staff was cut by a ball, and the flag fell 
outside the fort. Jasper immediately leaped down, and, 
amid the " iron hail," picked up the flag, tied it to a pole, 
deliberately placed it on the parapet, and then returned 
to his companions at the guns. Governor Kutledge appre- 
ciated the heroic deed ; a few days after he presented his 
own sword to Jasjjer, and offered him a lieutenant's com- 
mission. He accepted the sword, but modestly declined pro- 
motion, on the ground that he could neither read nor write. 

June ^'^ ^^^^ ^'^^7 *^'^y ^^^^t ^^^^ battle took place at the 

28. South, a British fleet of forty vessels entered the harbor 
of New York. On board was General Howe, and with 
him the late garrison of Boston. Since the evacuation of 
that place he had been at Halifax awaiting the arrival of 
his brother, Admiral Howe. He landed his forces on 
Staten Island, where he was received with demonstrations 
of joy by the Tories. Clouds of deeper darkness were gath- 
ering around New York. The Admiral with more forces 
might be expected at any moment ; the crisis so long 
dreaded was at hand. The American soldiers were ordered 



A CRISIS AT HAND. 363 



to be each day at their alarm posts, aud to be in readiness chap 

for instant action. Orders to the same effect were sent 

up the river. Eumors of disaffection in that quarter 1776. 
added the fear of treachery to the general alarm. Such 
was the state of things ; — the northern army defeated and 
broken, the fleet of Sir Henry Clinton on its way from the 
South, Admiral Howe on his way from England, the har- 
bor of New York filled with the enemy's ships, — when an 
event took place, most important in American history. 
The colonies declared themselves independent of all foreign 
authority, and took their place among the nations of the 
earth. 



CHAPTERXXX. 

WAR OF THE REVOLUTION-CONTIN tJED. 

The Question of Independence ; Influences in favor of. — The Tories.— 
" Common Sense." — The Declaration ; its Reception by the People and 
Army. — Arrival of Admiral Howe. — His Overtures for Reconciliation. — 
The American Army ; its Composition. — Sectional Jealousies. — The 
Forts on the Hudson. — The Clintons.- — Battle of Long Island. — The 
Masterly Retreat. — Incidents. — Camp on Harlem Heights. — Howe con- 
fers with a Committee of Congress. — Nathan Hale. — The British at 
Kipp's Bay. — New York evacuated. Conflict at White Plains. — The 
Retreat across New Jersey. — Waywardness of Lee. 

CHAP. The alienation between tlie colonies and the mother conn- 

XXX. 

try began at the close of the French war. It was not the 

1776. result of any one cause, but of many ; the change of feel- 
ing was not instantaneous, but gradual. As the struggle 
took a more decided form, many, who were determined in 
their resistance to oppression, were unwilling to cast oiF 
their allegiance to the land to wliich their fathers still 
gave the endearing name of " home." There were, how- 
ever, among the true Sons of Liberty a few who had seen 
the end from the beginning. Such men as Samuel Adams 
and Patrick Henry foresaw the haughty obstinacy of the 
British ministry, and foretold the result. " Independent 
we are and independent we will be," said Adams ; and 
Henry exclaimed, in the Virginia Assembly : " We must 
fight ! An appeal to arms and the God of Hosts is all 
that is left us ! " 

What had long been felt by the few, now flashed upon 



THE QUESTION OF INDEPENDENCE. 365 

the minds of the many, that they could never enjoy their chap 

riglits but as a self-governing nation. Would the op- 

pressions of the home government justify separation, which 1770. 
would involve all the horrors of a protracted and doubtftil 
war ? This question became the subject of discussion in 
tlie Provincial Assemblies, and among the people them- 
selves. 

It was not arbitrary and unjust laws alone, nor the 
refusal of political rights, that had estranged the American 
people. Eeligious views had their influence in moulding 
public sentiment in favor of independence. Long-con- 
tinued and persistent efforts to establish the Episcopal 
church in New England, had roused the latent hostility 
of the Congregationalists — they would not submit to Eng- 
lish control in matters of religion. The Presbyterians of 
the middle and southern colonies, derived, as they were, 
from the dissenting Scottish church, had a traditionary 
feeling of opposition to the same influence. Both j)astors 
and people were stanch Whigs, and went hand in hand 
with the ministers and people of New England. Even in 
Virginia, where the Episcopal church was established by 
law, and where the majority of the people were its advo- 
cates, the attempt to place over them a bishop was de- 
nounced by the House of Burgesses as a " pernicious pro- 
ject." Though strenuous churchmen, they were jealous 
of external influences, and repudiated the control of the 
mother church. On the contrary, the Episcopal clergy, 
great numbers of whom were Englishmen by birth, from 
their associations were inclined to favor the royal author- 
ity. Nor should we judge them harshly ; they acted in 
accordance with their views of the intimate connection of 
church and state. These views influenced the members 
of that church more in the northern than in the southern 
colonies, and great numbers of them faithfully adhered to 
the " Lord's anointed," as they termed the king. 

The peace-loving Quakers, numerous in Pennsylvania, 



366 HISTOET OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 



^xxx' -^^^^ Jersey, and Delaware, opposed war as wrong in itself. 

The Moravians held similar views. These grieved over 

177C. the violation of their rights, yet they hoped by pacific 
measures to obtain justice. 

There were others who, though not opposed to war, 
believed it to be wrong to rise in opposition to the rule of 
the mother country. There were also, the timid, who 
deemed it madness to resist a power so colossal. There 
were the low and grovelling, who sought »nly an opportu- 
nity to plunder ; the time-serving and the avaricious, who, 
for the gain they might acquire as contractors for the 
British army, or by furnishing provisions for prisoners, 
joined the enemies of their country. 

The evacuation of Boston strengthened the already 
strong feeling in favor of independence so prevalent in 
New England. In the South, the recent risings of the 
Tories in North Carolina, the ravages of Dunmore in Vir- 
ginia, and the attack upon Charleston, served still more 
to alienate the affections of the people ; while their suc- 
cess in re2)elling the invasion gave them assurance. For 
many reasons they wished to be independent. Then they 
could form treaties with other nations, and the brand of 
rebel, so repugnant to an honorable mind, would be re-, 
moved. In truth, Congress had already taken the ground 
of an independent government by offering free trade to 
other nations, in all merchandise except that of British 
manufacture, and slaves, — the latter traffic they had pro- 
hibited some months before. 

About the first of the year, a pamphlet was issued in 
Philadelphia, under the title of " Common Sense," which 
had a great influence upon the public mind. Its autlior, 
Thomas Paine, an Englishman, had been in the country 
but a few months. In a style adapted to convince the 
popular- mind, he exposed the folly of delaying any longer 
a formal separation from the mother country. The pam- 
phlet had a very great circulation, and a proportionate 



THE COMMITTEE. 



367 



influence in deciding tlie timid and wavering in favor of ^:^^^- 



independence. 



1770. 



On the seventh of June, Richard Henry Lee intro- 
duced a resolution into Congress, declaring, *' That the 
United Colonies are and ought to be free and independent 
States, and that their political connection with Great 
Britain is and ought to be dissolved." Upon this resolution 
sprang up an animated discussion. It was opposed, prin- 
cipally, on the ground that it was premature. Some of 
the best and strongest advocates of colonial rights spoke 
and voted against the motion, which passed only by a 
bare majority of seven States to six. Some of the dele- 
gates had not received instructions from their constituents 
on the subject, and others were instructed to vote against 
it. Its consideration was prudently deferred until there 
was a prospect of greater unanimity. Accordingly on the 
eleventh a committee, consisting of Doctor Franklin, John 
Adams, Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, Roger Sherman, 
of Connecticut, and Robert R. Livingston, of New York, 
was appointed to prepare a Declaration. To give oppor- 
tunity for union of opinion, the consideration of the sub- 
ject was postponed to the first of July. At the same time 
two other committees were ajipointed ; one to draw up a 
plan for uniting aU the colonies, the other to devise meas- 
ures to form foreign alliances. 

On the twenty-eighth the committee reported the dec- June, 
laration to the house. It was drawn by Jefferson, and 
contained a gracefully written summary of the sentiments 
of the people and Congress. After a few verbal altera- 
tions suggested by Adams and Franklin, it was approved 
by the committee. The house, however, struck out a few 
passages. One of these reflected severely upon the British 
government ; another denounced the slave-trade ; another 
censured the king for his attempts to prevent, by the re- 
fusal of his signature^ the enactment of laws designed to 



368 HISTOKT OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 

^^xxx' P^o^^'^i^ *^^* traffic. They were unwilling to offend the 

friends of the colonies in Britain, and feared lest these 

1776. strong expressions might prevent the declaration from 
receiving a unanimous vote. The vote was taken by 
States ; the delegates were not unanimous, but there were 
a sufficient number to give the vote of all the colonies, 
New York alone excepted, which was given in a few days. 
The announcement was delayed till the declaration should 
receive a few amendments, and then, on July the fourth, 
4. it was formally adopted, and the thirteen colonies became 
The Thirteen United States of America. 

The bell of the State Hou.se, in which Congress held 
its sessions, has upon it the inscription : " Proclaim lib- 
erty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants 
thereof" — words taken from the Bible. Congress sat with 
closed doors, but it was known far and wide, that the 
subject of independence was under discussion. Crowds 
assembled outside the Hall, and waited anxiously to 
learn the result. At mid-day the appointed signal was 
given. The bell was struck, and to its tones responded 
the joyous shouts of multitudes. The friends of liberty 
and independence breathed more freely ; the declara- 
tion was made ; the hesitancy of indecision was over, 
and the spirit of determination arose. It was published ; 
it was read to the army ; the soldiers received it with 
shouts of exultation and pledges to defend its prin- 
ciples ; it was announced in the papers ; from the piilpits, 
and everywhere the Whigs hailed it with joy. Hopes of 
reconciliation, which had so much paralyzed measures of 
defence, were at an end ; there was now no neutral ground. 
The timid though honest friends of their country, who had 
so long hesitated, generally sided with liberty. The Tories 
were in a sad condition ; the great majority of them were 
wealthy, and had hoped that the difficulties would yet be 
arranged. Laws passed by the new State authorities had 
rendered them liable to fines and imprisonments, and their 



ARRIVAL OF ADMIRAL HOWE — HIS CIRCULAR. 369 

property to confiscation. They endured many outrages, chj^P 

and were subjected to " tarrings and featherings " innu- , 

merable, by self-constituted vigilance committees. Con- 1776. 
gress, to prevent these outrages, gave the supervision of 
Tories to committees of inspection. The most obnoxious 
were fain to emigrate, and the committee admonished or 
restrained the others within certain limits. 

The soldiers in New York manifested their zeal by 
taking a leaden statue of King George, which stood iu the 
Bowling Green, and running it into bullets, to be used in 
the cause ot independence. To impress upon their minds 
a sense of the dignity of their position, as well as to re- 
prove this irregularity, Washington, in the orders, the fol- 
lowing day, referred to the subject. " The general hopes 
and trusts," said he, " that every officer and soldier will 
endeavor so to live and act, as becomes a Christian soldier 
defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country." 

A few days after the public Declaration of Independ- 
ence, the booming of cannon from the British vessels in 
the harbor of New York announced the arrival of Admiral 
Howe. To his brother and himself had been committed 
the general control of American aflairs. 

Before he proceeded to hostilities, the admiral ad- 
dressed a circular to the people ; he offered them pardon 
if they would cease to be rebels, lay down their arms, and 
trust the king's mercy. As soon as this circular reached 
Congress, that body caused it to be published in all the 
newspapers, that the people might see that Britain would 
grant nothing, and accept no concession short of absolute 
submission. " They must fight or be slaves." 

Howe also attempted to open a correspondence with 
Washington. As Parliament refused to acknowledge 
titles conferred by Congress, his letters were addressed, 
first to Mr. George Washington, then to George Wash- 
ington, Esquire, &c., &c., hoping that the &c.'s would 
24 



370 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, remove the difficulty ; but the Commander-in-cliief, justlj 

L tenacious of the dignity of his office, and of the honor of 

1716. his country, politely hut firmly refused to receive them 
The messenger expressed his regret that the correspond- 
ence could not be opened. His lordship, he said, wished 
for peace ; he was vested with great powers. Washington 
replied that he understood Lord Howe had power to grant 
pardons ; the Americans had defended their rights ; they 
had committed no ciime, and needed no pardon. 

The Admiral was disappointed, he really desired peace. 
The reception he had met with bad encouraged his hopes ; 
he had received loyal addresses from the Tories of New 
Jersey, Long and Staten Islands ; Governor Tryon had 
assured him there were many others, secret friends of 
England, who might be induced to join him. But, to 
his surprise, his circular, from which he had hoped much, 
produced little or no effect. He was now convinced that 
nothing could be accomplished except by force of arms. 
Meanwhile his army, now on Staten Island, received 
many accessions ; Sir Henry Clinton had arrived, and 
more Hessian troops had landed. His whole force was 
about thirty-five thousand. 

As it had become more and more evident that New 
York was to be the theatre of the war, further prepara- 
tions had been made to defend the city and neighborhood. 
Pennsylvania had sent four continental regiments, com- 
manded respectively by Colonels St. Clair, Shee, Anthony 
Wayne, and Magaw ; three provincial battalions, under 
Colonels Miles, Cadwallader, and Atlee, and rifle regi- 
ments, imder Colonels Hand and Allen. These were all 
commanded by Brigadier-general Mifflin, of that State. 

Virginia sent troops under Major Leitch, and from 
Maryland came the brave company known as Smallwood's 
regiment, who afterward distinguished themselves in many 
conflicts, while from Delaware came a regiment under 
Colonel Hazlet. In addition to these, Pennsvlvania, 



JEALOUSIES AMONG THE TROOPS. 371 

Maryland, and Delaware, furnished troops to form what '^l'^^- 
was called " a flying camp," a sort of reserve, stationed 



in New Jersey, in a favorable position, and ready to act 177G. 
in emergencies. This was nndcr Brigadier-general Mercer. 

In the troops thu.s drawn together from different parts 
of the country, there were marked differences in appear- 
ance and discipline. The New England officers were most 
of them farmers and mechanics — brave, honorable, but 
plain men. Their soldiers were men of the same stamp ; 
in many cases their intimates and associates in private 
life. Their intercourse with each other was less formal 
than was consistent with strict military discipline. They 
met not as mere soldiers, but as a band of brethren, united 
in a cause in which each had a personal interest. With, 
the portion of the army drawn from the other States, the 
case was different ; with them, there was a marked dis- 
tinction between the officers and soldiers. The officers were 
brave and honorable also, but city bred — " gentlemen," 
as they called themselves — and from wealthy families, 
while the " common soldiers, for the most' part, were a 
very inferior set." Sectional jealousies arose. The Mary- 
landers, in " scarlet and buff," looked down upon the 
rustic soldiery in " homesjDun," whUe the officers of the 
other provinces were inclined to despise their associates 
from New England. These jealousies became so great an 
evil, that Washington strongly reprobated them in general 
orders. 

As the British were masters of the bay of New York, 
it was feared they would surround the American army in 
the city, and take possession of the Hudson, that great 
highway to the interior. To prevent this, General Mifflin 
was sent with the Pennsylvania troops to guard the forts 
at the north end of the island. One of these stood just 
below, the other just above Kingsbridge, the only avenue 
to the mainland ; they were known as Forts Washington 
and Independence. On the west side of the Hudson, 



372 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

<^^P. nearly opposite Fort Washington, stood Fort Lee. Neai 

the entrance to the Highlands, and jvist opposite the ■well- 

1776. known promontory of Anthony's Nose, was Fort Mont- 
gomery. Six miles higher up the river was Fort Consti- 
tution. 

The posts last named were under the command of 
Colonel James Chnton. His brother George commanded 
the militia of Ulster and Orange counties. These brothers 
were of Irish descent, natives of New York, and their 
ancestors were identified with the early settlements on 
the Hudson. They had been soldiers from their youth-r- 
like many of the Revolutionary officere — they had been 
trained in the French war, in which one of them had 
served as a captain at twenty, and the other as a lieuteu- 
ant at seventeen years of age. The elder, James, had 
also served under Montgomery at the capture of Montival, 
whUe George had been active in the service of his country 
as a member of the New York Legislature, and as a dele- 
gate to the Continental Congress. 

In spite of obstructions thrown across the channel, two 
British vessels, the Phcenix and the Kose, passed up the 
Hudson. The latter was commanded by the notorious 
Captain Wallace, who had pillaged the shores of Rhode 
Island. They passed the forts unharmed, and gallantly 
returned the fire from Fort Washington. As they boldly 
pushed their way up the river, their appearance crcated 
great alarm. Signal guns were heard from the forts, and 
Fuly false rumors increased the general excitement. The sturdy 
^^' yeomanry left their harvests uncut in their fields, and has- 
tened to join the forces under Clinton to defend the passes 
of the Highlands. These fears were in a great measure 
groundless. The vessels quietly anchored here and there, 
while their boats took soundings ; but the event proved the 
inefficiency of the defences at the mouth of the Hudson. 

The Americans, from the Jersey shore and the citv 



22. 



THE BKITISH LAND ON LONG ISLAND. • ' 373 - 

continued to watch, with intense interest, the movements chap 

of .the enemy on Staten Island. A spy reported that they 

were about to land on Long Island, with twenty thousand 1776. 
men, and take possession of the Heights, which com- 
manded New York ; he had heard the orders read, and 
the conversation of the officers in the camp. The next Aug. 
day the roar of artillery was heard from Long Island, and 
soon the news reached the city that the enemy had landed 
at Gravesend Bay. 

General Greene had thrown up a line' of intrenchments 
and redoubts across the neck of the peninsula upon which 
stood the village of Brooklyn. He had made himself ac- 
quainted with the ground in the neighborhood, and nearly 
completed his plans for defence, when he was suddenly 
taken ill with a raging fever. He was still unable to be 
at his post, and Sullivan held the temporary command. 

Between the American intrenchments and Gravesend 
Bay lay a range of thickly-wooded hills, that stretched 
across the island from south-west to north-east. Over 
and around these hills were three roads : one along the 
shore passed around their south-western base ; another 
crossed over their centre toward Flatbush ; while a third, 
which was near the north-east extremity of the range, 
passed over them from the village of Bedford to Jamaica. 

Nine thousand of the British had already landed at 
Gravesend, under the command of Sir Henry Clinton and 
his associates, the Earls of Cornwallis and Percy, and Gen- 
erals Grant and Erskine. Colonel Hand, who was sta- 
tioned there, retired on their approach to a position that 
commanded the central or Flatbush road. The British 
continued to land more forces secretly in the night time, 
but for several days nothing occurred, except skirmishing 
between the enemy and the troops at the outposts, along 
the wooded hills. 

At the first alarm, the Commander-in-chief had hast- 
ened to send to the aid of Sullivan a reinforcement of six 



874 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^H^. battalions, — all he could well spare. He exhorted these 

soldiers to be cool, and not to fire too soon. They ap- 

1776. peared in high spirits, though most of them were going 

into battle for the first time. 
Aug. On the twenty-fourth, Washington, somewhat relieved 

from his apprehensions with regard to the city, crossed 
over to Brooklyn to inspect the lines. Hi3 was pained to 
observe a great want of system among the officers, and of 
discipline among the soldiers. A strong redoubt had been 
thrown up at the central pass, but the plans for defence 
were impeifect, and afl'airs in much confusion. 

On his return, he appointed General Putnam to the 
command, with orders to remedy these evils. The " brave 
old man " hastened with joy to the post of danger. 

From day to day the number of tents on Staten Island 
became gradually less, and one by one ships dropped 
silently down to the narrows. Washington became con- 
vinced that the British designed to attack the hues at 
Brooklyn. He sent over further reinforcements, among 
which was Haslet's Delaware regiment — troops whose sol- 
dierly bearing and discipline had won his special regard. 

He proceeded iq person to aid Putnam with his coun- 
sel. On the evening of the twenty-sixth he returned to 
New York, perplexed and depressed, for a dark cloud of 
uncertainty and danger hung over the future. 

His fears were soon realized. On that very evening 
the British proceeded to carry out their plan of attack. 
By this plan, Sir Henry Clinton was to march along by- 
paths across to the eastern or Jamaica road, to seize the 
pass in the Bedford hills, thence proceed onward, and turn 
the left flank of the Americans ; General Grant was to 
pass along the shore-road, and attack them on the right, 
while General De Heister, with his Hessians, was to 
threaten the central pass, where Colonel Hand was sta- 
tioned with his riflemen. 

At nine o'clock. Sir HeniT, guided by a Long Island 



BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND. 375 

Tory, commenced his miiicli toward the eastern road ; ^3J^- 

about midnight, Colonel Grant's division moved in an op- 

posite direction, along the western or shore-road. Colonel 1776. 
Atlee, who was stationed there with a small company of 
militia, was driven back from point to point. News of 
Grant's approach soon reached General Putnam. Lord 
Stirling, with Smallwood's and Haslet's regiments, was 
sent to the relief of Colonel Atlee. About daylight they 
came up with him, and soon the front of tlie approaching 
enemy appeared in view. 

Presently the redoubt at the central pass was cannon- 
aded from Flatbush. This firing attracted the attention 
of Sullivan, who went to the relief of Colonel Hand. 

Thus the object of the British was in part accom- 
plished. The attention of the Americans was diverted, 
their troops were scattered beyond the lines ; silently and 
rapidly the forces of Clinton were moving on to cut off 27"" 
their return. He had found the eastern pass unguarded, 
and continued his march undiscovered, and now signal- 
guns announced that he was close upon the American 
lines. The Hessians advanced at once upon the redoubt. 
Colonel Grant pushed on. Sullivan and Stirling both 
perceived their danger, and endeavored to retreat, but in 
vain. The enemy had gained their rear ; they were com- 
pletely entrapped and hemmed in. It is true, a portion 
of Stirling's troops escaped by fording a creek ; the re- 
mainder, most of whom were of Smallwood's regiment, 
took a brave but desperate stand. A scene of carnage 
ensued ; more than two hundred and fifty of them were 
slain within sight of the lines. Some of these were most 
cruelly and wantonly bayoneted by the merciless Hessians. 
At length Stirling sought De Heister and surrendered. 
Sullivan's forces were driven back and forth by the two 
divisions of the enemy, and treated in a like barbarous 
manner ; some were taken prisoners, among whom was 
Sullivan himself ; others fought their way back to the 



376 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

CHAP, lines. Some portion of this conflict took place amid the 

hills now embraced in the beautiful cemetery of Green - 

3776. wood. 

Washington reached the spot just in time to witness 
the catastrophe. As from the lines he saw his brave 
troops surrounded and cruelly slaughtered — touched to 
the heart with deep and humane sorrow, he wrung his 
hands and exclaimed : " Good God ! what brave fellows 
I must lose this day ! " 

The loss of the Americans in this battle was very se- 
vere ; of the five thousand engaged, nearly* two thousand 
were slain or taken prisoners, while out of sixteen thou- 
sand the British lost but about fnir hundred. They inade 
no assault on the American lines, but encamped directly 
in front of them, and prepared to carry them by regular 
approaches. 

Although reinforced the next' day, by Mifflin's and 
Glover's regiments, the Americans had still a very inferior 
force. On the morning of the twenty-ninth, as General 
Mifflin, with Adjutant-general Reed and Colonel Grayson, 
was inspecting the outposts at Red Hook, a light breeze, 
that dispersed the fog for a moment, revealed to them the 
enemy's fleet. They were justly alarmed ; the unusual 
stir among the boats convinced them that some great 
movement was on foot. It was probable the enemy in- 
tended to pass up the bay and surround them. They hast- 
ened to Washington, who summoned a council of war, 
and it was decided that the army should that night be 
secretly withdrawn from the island. It was a hazardous 
enterprise, and much was to be done ; boats weie to be 
collected, and preparations for the removal of nine thou- 
sand men were to be made, in the face of the enemy, rap- 
idly, and yet so silently and cautiously, as not to awaken 
the slightest suspicion. It was already noon, but the or- 
ders were issued, and all the boats around Manhattan 
Island were impressed and in readiness at eight o'clock 



THE RETREAT INCIDENTS. 377 

that evening. And at the silent midnight hour the regi- '^^^ 

mentS; one by one, began to anarch to the ferry, and in 

boats manned by Glover's regiment, most of whom were 1770. 
Marblehead fishermen, they were borne to the city. By 
eight o'clock the entire army, with their military stores, 
cattle, horses, and carts, were safely landed. 

Several incidents occurred, which have a peculiar in- 
tere.st as connected with this famous retreat. General 
MifHin, who was stationed nearest to the enemy's lines, 
was to remain at his post until the others had embarked. 
Colonel Scammell, who was sent to hasten forward a par- 
ticular regiment, mistook his orders, and sent on MifHin 
with his whole covering party ; and great was the conster- 
nation of the Commander-in-chief when they joined the 
others at the ferry. " This is a dreadful mistake. General 
MifHin," said he, " and unless the troops can regain the 
lines before their absence is discovered by the enemy, the 
most disastrous consequences are to be apprehended." 
They returned to their post with all expedition. " This 
was a trying business to young soldiers," says one of their 
number, " it was, nevertheless, strictly complied with, and 
we remained not less than an hour in the hues before we 
received the second order to abandon them." ' 

A story is told of a woman, wife of a suspected Tory, 
who lived near the ferry. She sent her negro servant to 
the British with news that the Americans were retreatins:. 
He reached the Hessian outposts in safety, but they did 
not understand his language, and detained him a close 
prisoner till morning. Then an English officer, who exam- 
ined him, learned the truth, but it was too late. The 
British did not reach the ferry till the last boat was be- 
} ond musket shot. It was an August morning ; but for A"g. 
a dense fog, the boats which left after daylight must have 
been discovered. The safe retreat of the patriot army 

' ' Graydon's Memoirs. 



30. 



OiS HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLr. 

^Il" ^^^ ^y many attributed to a peculiar Providence. It was 

— — - a trust in this Providence,, a calm assurance of ultimate 

1776. success under its guiding care, that strengthened the 

hearts of the patriots in their darkest hour of trial. 

A few days after this retreat, Admiral Howe, who 
hoped the Americans would now accept peace on hi« 
terms, sent General Sullivan on parole with a letter to 
Congress. He invited thenf to send, in an informal man- 
ner, a committee to confer with him on some measures of 
reconciliation. He would receive them as private gentle- 
men, as the ministry would not acknowledge the legal ex- 
istence of Congress. Accordingly, John Adams, Doctor 
Franklin, and Edward Rutledge, held a conference with 
him at a house on Staten Island, opposite Amboy. 

Doctor Franklin and Lord Howe had often conversed 
together in England on the present difficulties. His lord- 
ship made known the terms on which peace could be ob- 
tained. These terms were unconditional submission. When 
told that the Congress and people would treat on no other 
basis than that " of a free and independent nation," he 
expressed regret, that he should be compelled to dis- 
tress the Americans. Doctor Franklin reciprocated his 
good will, but quietly remarked, " The Americans will 
endeavor to lessen the pain you may feel, by taking good 
care of themselves." Thus ended the much talked-of in- 
terview. The result was good. The people were strength- 
ened in the belief that England had no teims to offer, 
which wuuld lead them to regret the course they had 
adopted. 

The British, now in possession of Long Island, ex- 
tended their lines along the East River, and stationed in 
them a large number of Hessian troops, of whom reinforce- 
ments had come within a few days. The defeat at Brook- 
lyn had a very disheartening effect on the minds of the 
militia, great numbers of whom deserted, and soon Wash- 



DISPOSITION OF THE TROOPS NATHAN HALE. 379 

lugton's army was less than twenty thousand men, and on c^ap. 

many of these little dependence could be placed. The 

question soon arose, Should Now York be defended to the 1770. 
last, or should it be evacuated ? Some proposed to burn 
it to the ground, as " two-thirds of the property belonged 
to Tories," rather than it should furnish comfortable win- 
ter-quarters for the enemy. Congress decided that the 
city should not be burned. 

The sick and wounded, in ifche meanwhile, were trans- ■ 
ferred to Orange, in New Jersey, and most of the military 
stores were removed to Dobbs' Ferry, that the garrison 
might be unencumbered should they be obliged to make a 
hasty retreat. It was decided by a council of war that 
Putnam, with five thousand troops, should remain to gar- 
rison New York, while General Heath, with the main body, 
was to fortify the heights in the neighborhood of Kings- 
bridge, where, presently, Washington transferred his head- 
quarters. 

Washington was anxious to learn the designs of the ene- 
my on Long Island. At the suggestion of Colonel Knowl- 
ton, Nathan Hale volunteered to go on the perilous errand. 
Hale was a native of Connecticut, a graduate of Yale Col- 
lege, had thoughts of studying for the ministry, and at the 
commencement of the war was a teacher of youth. After 
the battle of Lexington, he hastened to Boston to join the 
army, in which he served as a lieutenant. On one occa- 
sion, to induce his men to continue their term of enlist- 
ment, he offered them his own pay. Soon after he received 
from Congress the commission of captain. 

He passed to the island, obtained the knowledge de- 
sired, notes of which he took in Latin. As he was return- 
ing he fell in with a i^arty of the enemy, was recognized 
by a Tory relative, seized and taken to Howe's head- 
quarters, and, without much ceremony, was ordered to be 
executed the next morning. 

The provost-marshal, named Cunningham, treated 



380 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

<^J^P. him with great brutality, denied him a Bible, tore up the 

letter he had writteu to his mother, giving as a reason, 

1776. " that the rebels should never know they had a man who 
could die with such firmness." The hist words of Hale 
were : " I only regret that I have but oue life to lose for 
my country." 

The entire British fleet was within cannon-shot of the 
city, and some of their vessels had passed up the Hudson 
- and East rivers. They had landed troops on the islands 
at the mouth of Harlem river, and there erected a bat- 
tery. Soon British and Hessians, under Clinton and Colo- 
nel Donop, crossed over from the camjj on Long Island 
to Kipp's Bay, three miles above the city. Washington 
heard the cannonading in that quarter, and, as he was on 
the way to learn the cause, met the militia, who, on the 
first approach of the enemy had fled in sad confusion, fol- 
lowed by two brigades of Connecticut troops, who that 
very morning had been sent to support them. He strove 
to rally them, but in vain ; neither entreaties nor com- 
mands had any eft'ect upon these panic-stricken soldiers. 
Mortified and indignant at their cowardice, he dashed his 
hat upon the ground, and exclaimed : " Are these the 
men with whom I am to defend America ? " The enemy 
in pursuit were now not more than eighty yards from him, 
but in his excitement he forgot his own safety, and had 
not an attendant seized the bridle of his horse and hurried 
15.' him from the field, he must have fallen into their hands. 
Washington ordered General Heath to secure Harlem 
Heights, and sent an express order to Putnam to evacuate 
the city, and retire to those heights with all speed ; for he 
feared that the enemy would extend their lines across the 
island from Kipp's Bay, and cut off his retreat. Fortu- 
nately the British did not pursue their advantage. Put- 
nam retreated along the west side of the island by the 
Bloomingdale road. His line, encumbered with women and 
children, was exposed to the fire of the ships lying in the 



A SUCCESSFUL SKIRMISH. 381 

Hudson. He ordered, encouraged, and aided, and by his *^^^- 

extraordinary exertions, it is said, saved his corps from 

entire destruction. However, his heavy artillery and three 1776. 
htnidred men fell into the hands of the enemy. 

Now the British had possession of the city, and the 
main body of the Americans was encamped on the northern 
portion of the island, across which they threw a double 
row of lines, about four and a half miles below Kings- 
bridge. Two miles above these lines, was Fort Washing- 
ton, and a few miles below them were the British lines, 
extending also from river to river. 

On the sixteenth the enemy made an attack upon the Sept. 
American advanced posts, but were repulsed and driven 
off by Virginia and Connecticut troops, but their com- 
manders. Major Leitch, and the brave Colonel Knowlton, 
one of the heroes of Bunker Hill, both fell in this en- 
counter. The spirits of the soldiers, depressed by repeated 
defeats and disasters, were somewhat revived by this suc- 
cessful skirmish. 

The armies watched each other for some weeks. Many 
were sick in the American camp ; " it was ihipossible to 
find proper hospitals ; and they lay about in almost every 
barn, stable, shed, and even under the fences and bushes." 

Sir William Howe now began to collect forces at 
Throg's Neck, a peninsula in the Sound about nine miles 
from the American camp. This peninsula was separated 
from the mainland by a narrow creek and a marsh, wliich 
was overflowed at high tide. By means of the bridge and 
fords, Howe hoped to pass over to the mainland and gain 
the rear of the Americans, and cut off their communica- 
tion with New England, whence they received most of 
their supjilies. His plans, though well laid, were defeated. 
General Heath was on the alert ; he was joined by Colonel 
William Prescott, who commanded at Bunker Hill, and 
by Hand with his riflemen, and others ; every pass was 
guarded, and the planks of the bridge removed. Howe, 



382 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, with his usual caution, waited six days for reinforcements. 
11__ By this time General Lee, now more a favorite than ever, 
177C. had returned from his successful campaign at the South, 
and Sullivan, Stirling, and Morgan had been restored to 
the army by exchange. While Howe thus delayed, it was 
decided, in a council of war, that every American post on 
New York island, excepting Fort Washington, should be 
abandoned. This plan was promptly executed. The 
army, in four divisions, commanded by Generals Lee, 
Heath, Sullivan, and Lincoln, withdrew across Kings- 
bridge, and gradually concentrated their forces in a forti- 
23. fied camp near the village of White Plains. 

Still hoping to gain their rear, Howe moved on toward 
New Rochelle, where he was reinforced by light-horse 
troops, and Hessians under General Knyphausen, who 
had recently arrived from Europe. He advanced upon 
the camp. Scarcely had the Americans intrenched them- 
selves at White Plains, when a rumor of his approach 
reached them. On the twenty-eighth, as Washington, 
accompanied by his general officers, was reconnoitring the 
heights in the neighborhood, the alarm was given that the 
enemy had driven in the picket-guards, and were within 
the camp. When he reached headquarters he found the 
army already posted in order of battle. The enemy did 
not advance upon them ; they turned their attention to a 
height known as Chattevton's Hill, which lay a little south 
of the camp, and was separated from it by the river Bronx. 
This height was occupied by sixteen hundred men -under 
General McDougall, and the attack was made at this 
point. After a feeble resistance, the militia fled, but 
Hazlet's and Smallwood's regiments, so famous on Long 
Island, made a brave stand, and repeatedly repulsed the 
enemy ; but, at length, overpowered by numbers, they 
retreated across the bridge to the camp. This battle of 



A NIGHT OF LABOR THREATENED DANGERS. 383 

White Plains was a spirited encounter, in which each of c^^P 
the parties lost about four hundred men. 

The British took possession of the hill, and began to 17V6 
intrench themselves ; and now, for the third time, the 
"armies lay looking at each other;" they were within 
long cannon-shot. 

Could the undisciplined, war-worn, and disheartened 
Americans hope to escape from a force so well equipped 
and so powerful ? That night was to them an anxious 
one. It was passed in severe labor ; they doubled their in- 
trenchments and threw up redoubts. Some of these were 
hastily constructed of stalks of corn, pulled up from a neigh- 
boring field, with the earth clinging to the roots. These 
piled with the roots outward, presented an appearance so 
formidable, that Howe, deceived as to their strength, did 
not attack them, but ordered up reinforcements. 

Howe's cautious conduct of the war has been severely 
criticised, and various reasons have been assigned, but it 
has never been satisfactorily explained ; whatever his 
reasons may have been, his delay at this time cost him 
another golden opportunity. Washington withdrew his 
army in the night-time to the heights of North Castle, a 
strong position, about five miles distant. His enemy had j^^^ 
again eluded him, and Howe retired with his forces to 4. 
Dobb's Ferry, on the Hudson. 

This movement awakened new fears ; — did he intend 
to pass down the river to Fort Washington, or to cross 
into New Jersey ? " He must attempt something," 
writes Washington, "on account of his reputation, for 
what has he done yet with his great army ? " 

To meet the threatened dangers a new disposition was 
made of the American forces. Lee, with a portion, was to 
remain at North Castle ; Putnam, with another, was to 
guard the west side of the Hudson ; Heath, the guardian 
of the passes of the Highlands, was to encamp at Peeks- 
kill ; while General Greene commanded at Fort Lee, and 



384 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN^ PEOPLE. 

^^x ^''^'^^^^ Magaw, with the Pennsylvania troops, occupied 
Fort Washinrrton. 



1776. With respect to maintaining Fort Washington, there 

was a diversity of opinion, as neither that fort nor the ob- 
structions across the channel had prevented the jmssage 
of vessels up the Hudson. Washington, with Lee, Reed, 
and others, was in favor of withdrawing the troops at once. 
He addressed a letter to Greene, in which he advised this 
course, but left the matter to his discretion. Greene and 
Magaw, who were both on the spot, and knew the condi- 
tion of the fort, decided that it could be maintained, and 
made preparations accordingly. This was, as the result 
proved, an injudicious decision. The post was compara- 
tively useless ; it was accessible on three sides from the 
water ; the fort was very small, and would not contain 
more than a thousand men, the lines were very extensive, 
and the garrison insufficient to man them. 

Washington visited the posts along the river. When 
he arrived at Fort Lee, he was greatly disappointed to find 
that the troops had not been withdrawn from Fort Wash- 
ington ; and, before he could make a personal examina- 
tion, the fort was invested. It was attacked on all sides. 
The garrison, after a brave resistance, which cost the ene- 
my four hundred men, was driven from the outer lines, 
and crowded into the fort, where they were unable to fight 
to advantage, and were exposed to the shells of the enemy. 
Further resistance was impossible, and Colonel Magaw 
surrendered all his troops, two .thousand in number. Dur- 
ing this action, the troops of Cadwallader especially dis- 
tinguished themselves. Of the officers. Colonel Baxter, 
of Pennsylvania, fell while cheering on his men. 

'^g^" From the New Jersey shore, the Commander-in-chief 

witnessed a portion of the battle, and again he saw some 

of his brave troops bayoneted by the merciless Hessians, 

and wept, it is said, ** with the tenderness of a child." 

It was resolved to abandon Fort Lee, but before it 



THE EETEEAT. 385 

was fully accomplished, Cornwallis, with a force six thou- ^'^'■ 

sand strong, crossed the Hudson to the foot of the rocky . 

cliflfs known as the Palisades. The force sent down from ITTG. 
North Castle was encamped at Hackensack, which lay be- 
tween the river of that name and the Hudson, and Wash- 
ington saw at once that the object of the enemy was to 
form a line across the country, and hem them in between 
the rivers. To avoid this he retreated, with all his forces, 
including the garrison of Fort Lee, to secure the bridge 
over the Hackensack, thence across the Passaic to the 
neighborhood of Newark. This retreat was made in such 
haste that nearly all the artillery was abandoned, the tents • 

left standing, and the fires burning. That night the 
enemy found shelter in the tents of the deserted camp. 

From Newark, the army moved on across the Raritan 
to Brunswick, thence to Princeton, where they left twelve 
hundred men, under Lord Stirling, to check the enemy, 
while the main body proceeded to Trenton, and thence be- 
yond the Delaware. The enemy pressed so closely upon 
them, that the advance of Cornwallis entered Newark at 
one end, as their rear-guard passed out at the other, and 
often during this march, " the American rear-guard, em- 
ployed in pulling up bridges, was within sight and shot of 
the British pioneers, sent forward to rebuild them." 

Thus less than four thousand men — a mere shadow 
of an army — poorly clad, with a scant supply of blankets, 
without tents, and enfeebled for want of wholesome food, 
evaded, by an orderly retreat, a well appointed force that 
far outnumbered them, well fed, well clothed, well disci- 
plined, and flushed with victory. When the enemy reached 
the Delaware, they were unable to cross over, not a boat 
was to be found ; Washington had taken the precaution to 
have them all secured for a distance of seventy miles, and 
transferred to the west side. Thus ended this famous re- 
treat, remarkable for the manner in which it was con- 
ducted, and the circumstances under which it took place. 
25 



386 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. CornwalUs was anxious to procure boats and push on 

to Philadelphia, but Howe decided to wait till the river 

I7T6. should be frozen. Meanwhile, the Hessians were stationed 

along the eastern bank for some miles above and below 

Trenton. 

During his harassed march, Washington had sent re- 
peated and urgent orders to Lee to hasten to his aid with 
reinforcements. Notwithstanding the emergency, which 
he well knew, Lee lingered for two or three weeks on the 
east side of the Hudson, and when actually on the march, 
t proceeded so slowly, that he did not reach Morristown 

until the eleventh of December. 

Lee had a high opinion of his own military abilities, 
and evidently desired an independent command. The 
deference which the Americans had jiaid to his judgment, 
and the importance they attached to his presence in the 
army, had flattered his natural self-conceit ; his success 
at the South, and the correctness of his views in relation 
to Fort Washington, had strengthened his influence over 
them, and now, in this time of depression and discourage- 
ment, he hoped by some brilliant exploit to retrieve the 
fortunes of the army, and gain more glory to himself In 
this mood he writes : " I am going into the Jerseys for 
the salvation of America." And again : "I am in hopes 
to reconquer, if I may so express myself, the Jerseys ; 
it was really in the hapds of the enemy before my arri- 
Tal." While he pondered over these vain projects, he dis- 
regarded the authority of the Commander-in-chief, and, 
to say the least, subjected him to cruel inconvenience. 
We have no reason to believe that Lee was untrue to the 
cause he had embraced, but his wayward conduct, at this 
time and afterward, has diminished the grateful respect 
with which Americans would have cherished his memory. 



CHAPTEK XXXI 

THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 

Discouragements. — Effects of Howe's Proclamation. — Affairs on LalieCIiam- 
plain. — Heroism of Arnold. — Carleton retires to Canada. — Capture of 
Lee. — Troops from the Northern Army. — Battle of Tienton. — Battle 
of Princeton. — Death of Mercer. — Washington retires to Morristown. — 
Cornwallis in his Lines at Brunswick. — Encouragements. — Putnam at 
Princeton. — Ill-treatment of American Prisoners ; their Exchange un- 
der Negotiation. — Appointment of General Officer.s. — Muhlenburg. — 
Wayne. — Conway. — Medical Department. — The Navy. — Marauding Ex- 
peditions. — Peekskill. — Danbury. — Death of Wooster. — Retaliation at 
Sag Harbor. — Efforts to recruit the Army. — Schuyler and Gates. — The 
National Flag. 

As the news of this retreat went abroad, the friends of the chap. 

XXXI 

cause were discouraged. What remained of the army was '_ 

fast wasting away ; their enlistments were about to ex- 1770. 
pire, and the militia, especially that of New Jersey, re- 
fused to take the field in behalf of a ruined enterprise. 
Many thought the States could not maintain their inde- 
pendence ; but there were a few who, confident in the 
justice of their cause, were firm and undaunted. Among 
these was Washington. In a conversation with General 
Mercer he remarked : " That even if driven beyond the 
Alleghanies, he would stand to the last for the liberties of 
his country." 

Howe felt certain the game was his own ; he had only 
to bide his time. He sent forth another proclamation, in 



388 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

xxxt' ^^i*^^ ^^ called upon all insurgents to disband, and Con- 
. gress to lay down their usurped authority ; and offered 



1T70. pardon to all who should accept the terjis within sixty 
days. Many persons, most of whom were wealthy, com- 
plied. Among these were two of the delegates from Penn- 
sylvania to the late Continental Congress, and the presi- 
dent of the New Jersey Convention which had sanctioned 
the Declaration of Independence, and others who had 
taken an active jjart in favor of the Revolution. For ten 
days after the proclamation was issued, from two to three 
hundred came every day to take the required oath. 

The movements of the enemy, and the efifect produced 
by the proclamation, caused great excitement in Phila- 
delphia. Putnam, who had been sent to command there, 
advised that, during this season of peril, Congress sliould 
liold its sessions elsewhere, and it adjourned to meet again 
12. at Baltimore. 

At this time a reinforcement of seven regiments was 
on its way from Canada. We now return to the forces on 
Lake Champlain, where we left Schuyler and Gates in a 
sort of joint command. 

The army driven out of Canada, broken,, diseased, and 
dispirited, rested first at Crown Point, and then at Ticon- 
deroga. During his retreat, Sullivan wisely secured or 
destroyed all the boats on Lake Champlain. Its shores 
were an unbroken wilderness ; thus the British were una- 
ble to follow up their pursuit by land or by water. 

Sir Guy Carleton, flushed with victory, and* full of 
ardor, determined to overcome all obstacles and push his 
victory to the utmost. He would obtain the command 
of the Lakes Champlain and George, and by that means 
subdue northern New York, and then proceed to take 
possession of Albany, where he hoped to take up his win- 
ter-quarters. From that point, he hoped, by means of 
the Hudson, to co-operate with the Howes at New York, 
to cut off the communication between New England and 



M 



HEROISM OF ARNOLD. 



389 



the States west and south. This he believed would bring '^^\- 

the contest to a speedy close, and secure to himself a share 

of the honors of the victory. He exerted himself with so 3770. 
much energy and success, that at the end of three months 
he had a weU-equipped fleet. The frames of five large 
vessels, that had been brought from England, were put 
together at St. John's on the Sorel. These, svith twenty 
smaller craft, and some armed boats, which had been 
dragged up the rapids of that river, were now launched 
upon the lake. 

The Americans were not idle. General Gates author- 
ized Arnold, who was somewhat of a seaman, to fit out 
and command a flotilla. Arnold threw himself into the 
enterprise with*all the energy of his nature, and soon was 
master of a force, in vessels and men, nearly half as large 
as that of Carleton. He moved his little fleet across a 
narrow strait between Valcour Island and the mainland, 
in such a position that the whole force of the enemy could 
not be made to bear upon him at one time ; there he awaited 
the contest. As Carleton, with a favorable wind, swept 
briskly up the lake, he passed the island behind which 
Arnold's flotilla lay snugly anchored, before he ol)served 
it. The wind was such that the larger ships could not 
beat up the strait, but the smaller vessels advanced, and 
a desperate encounter ensued, which was continued until 
evening came on. Then Carleton arranged his squadron 
so as to intercept Arnold's escape, and awaited the morn- 
ing ; when, if his larger vessels could be made to bear, he 
felt certain of the prize. The night proved dark and 
cloudy ; favored by this circumstance, Arnold slipped by 
the enemy, and at daylight was some miles on his way to 
Crown Point. But as most of his vessels were in bad con- 
dition, they could make but little headway ; only six 
reached that place in safety, two were sunk, and the oth- ^ 
ers were overtaken bv Carleton a few miles from the Point. o. 



390 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

xxxr" ^^^''^ o"6 ^^^ captured with the crew. Arnold fought 

desperately, until his galley, the Congress, was cut to 

1770. pieces, and one-third of her crew killed. Determined that 
his flag should not he struck, he ordered his vessels to be 
prrounded and set on fire. When this was done, he, with 
his men, leaped out and waded to the shore, and by well- 
directed rifle-shots kept the enemy at bay tOl the vessels 
were consumed, and with them the still waving flag ; then 
giving a triumphant cheer, they moved off through the 
woods to Crown Point, where they found the remnant of 
the fleet. They stayed only to destroy the houses and the 
stores at the fort, and then embarked for Ticonderoga. 
Before the enemy arrived, Gates, who commanded at that 
post, had so strengthened his position that Carletou decid- 
ed not to attack it, but to retire to Canada, and postpone 
his wintering in Albany to some future day. 

As the forts on the Lakes were safe for the present, 
General Schuyler detached the seven regiments, of which 
we have spoken, to the relief of Washington. When Lee 
learned that three of these regiments were at Peekskill, 
he ordered them to join him at Morristown. The remain- 
ing four, under General Gates, were passing through 
northern New Jersey toward Trenton. 

Gates was detained by a severe snow-storm, and un- 
certain as to the exact position of the army, he sent for- 
ward Major Wilkinson with a letter to Washington, 
stating his j^osition, and asking what route he should take 
to the camp. Wilkinson learned that Washington had 
crossed the Delaware ; and as General Lee, the second in 
command, was at Morristown, he made his way thitlier. 
Just at this time, Lee with a small guard was quartered, 
for the night, at a tavern at Baskenridge, three miles from 
his army, which was left irndcr the command of Sullivan. 
Here he was joined by Wilkinson, on the morning of tlie 
Doc. thirteenth of December. ' Lee took his brealrfast in a 
leisurely manner, discussed the news, and had just finished 



13. 



CAPTURE OF LEE. 391 

a letter to General Gates, when, much to his suriirise, the ^^ap. 

house was surrounded by a party of British dragoons. He 

had not dreamed that an enemy was near, and his guards 177fi. 
were off duty. But a Tory of the neighborhood had 
learned the evening before wliere he intended to lodge and 
breakfast, and had, during the night, ridden eighteen 
miles to Brunswick, to inform the enemy, and to pilot 
them to the spot. For a few moments all was confusion. 
The dragoons were calling for the General, and the Gen- 
eral was calling for the guards, who were scattered in all 
directions. " The scene was soon closed. General Lee, 
without a hat, clad in a blanket-coat and slippers, was 
mounted on a horse that stood at the door, and borne off 
in triumph to the British army at Brunswick." 

Had Lee, by some fortunate accident, succeeded in re- 
trieving the fortunes of the army, unsuccessful under 
Washington, it is probable that the wishes of the people 
might have turned toward him as commander-in-chief 
For men are too apt to judge of those who live in the same 
age with themselves, merely by their success ; and too 
often they yield to what is self-confident and assuming, 
the honor and respect due to sober judgment and high 
moral princi])les. 

Under t'nese circumstances, Lee's success would have 
proved most unfortunate for the country, for he had nei- 
ther the judgment nor the principle necessary to guide it 
safely through the approaching crisis. 

After the capture of Lee, the troops under Sullivan 
moved on at once to join the Commander-in-chief Gen- 
eral Gates, who had left his regiments at Morristown, 
reached the camp on the same day. As Washington had 
now a force of about six thousand men fit for service, he 
was anxious to strike a blow, that should revive the cour- 
age of the army and the people, before the disbandment 
of those troops, whose terms of enlistments were about to 



392 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^HAP. expire. The prospect of success was doubtful, but he felt 
that, under the circuiustances, inaction would ruin the 



1776. cause, and defeat could do no more. 

Howe was in New York ; Cornwallis, who was on the 
eve of embarking for England, was there also. The Brit- 
ish forces in New Jersey, though strong, were much scat- 
tered. The Hessians, who were in the advance, were 
carelessly cantoned at different points along the eastern 
bank of the Delaware. Colonel Donop was stationed at 
Burlington, and his forces were quartered above and be- 
low that point. Colonel Kahl, who had distinguished 
himself at White Plains and Fort Washington, was at 
Trenton, with a force of fifteen hundred men. This brave 
but careless commander took his ease, enjoyed his music 
and bath, and when it was proposed to throw up works 
upon which to mount cannon, in readiness against an 
assaidt, said, merrily : " Pooli ! pooh ! an assault by 
the rebels ! Let them come ; we'll at them with the 
bayonet." The Hessians were a terror to the people ; 
they plundered indiscriminately Whig and Tory. The 
American soldiers hated them intensely for their savage 
bayonetings on the battle-field, and were eager to avenge 
the outrages inflicted upon their friends and countrymen. 

Washington proposed to cross the river and surprise 
the Hessians at different points. A council of war was 
held, and Christmas night was fixed upon for the enter- 
prise. By the plan proposed, Washington himself was to 
cross nine miles above Trenton, and march down upon 
that place. Colonel Ewing, with the Pennsylvania mili- 
tia, was to cross a mile below the town, and secure the 
bridge over Assunpink creek, at the south side of it, and 
thus cut off the enemy's retreat. Adjutant-general Eeed 
and Colonel Cadwallader, who were statioaed at Bristol, 
nearly opposite Burlington, were to cross below that place 



BATTLE OF TRENTON 393 

and advance against Count Donop's division. The attacks ^^^j- 

were to be simultaneous, and five o'clock on the morning 

of the twenty-sixth was the hour agreed upon. I77b. 

Just after sunset, on Christmas night, the division un- 
der Washington, twenty-four hundred in number, began 
to pass over. With this division was a train of twenty 
field-pieces, under the command of Colonel Knox. The 
river was filled with floating ice, and the weather was in- 
tensely cold. The boats were guided by Colonel Glover, 
and his regiment of Marblehead fishermen, the same who 
had guided the boats on the memorable retreat from Long 
Island. The night was extremely dark and tempestuous, 
and the floating ice and strong wind drove them out of 
their course again and again. 

Washington had hoped to be on the march by mid- 
night, but hour after hour passed, and it was four o'clock 
before the artillery was landed, and the troops ready to 
move on. They marched in two divisions, one led by 
Washington, (with whom were Generals Greene, Stirling, 
Mercer, and Stephen,) by a circuitous route to the north 
of the town, while the other, under Sullivan, with whom 
was Colonel John Stark, with his New Hampshire band, 
was to advance by a direct road along the river, to the 
west and south side. Sullivan was to halt at a certain 
point to allow time for the main division to make the 
circuit. 

It was eight o'clock before this division reached the 
immediate neighborhood of Trenton ; they had struggled 
through a terrible storm of hail and snow ; it had impeded ' 'f;c 
their march, but it had also aided to conceal their move- 
ments from the enemy. Washington, who had pushed on 
with the advance, asked of a man who was chopping wood 
by the road-side the way to the Hessian picket. He an- 
swered grufliy, " I don't know," and went on with his 
work. " You may tell," said Captain Forrest, of the ar- 
tillery, " for that is General Washington." " God bless 



394 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, and prosper you ! " exclaimed the man, raising Lis hands 

to heaven, '• the picket is in that house, and the sentry 

1776. stands near that tree." 

In a few minutes the picket-guards were driven in. 
Late as it was, the Hessians were completely surprised. 
According to their custom, they had indulged freely in the 
festivities of Christmas, and were resting thoughtless of 
danger, when the drums suddenly beat to arms. All was 
confusion. At the first alarm. Colonel Rahl, who learned 
from the lieutenant of the picket-guard that a large force 
was advancing to surround him, endeavored to rally his 
panic-stricken troops. He seems to have meditated a re- 
treat to Princeton ; he had, in fact, passed out of the 
town, but the ambition of the soldier triumphed in his 
breast ; how could he fly before the rebels he had de- 
spised "? He rashly returned to the charge. By this time 
Washington had gained the main street, and opened a 
battery of six field-pieces, which swept it from end to end. 
As Rahl advanced, at the head of his grenadiers, he fell 
mortally wounded. At the fall of their leader his soldiers 
attempted to retreat, but they were intercepted by Colonel 
Hand, with his Pennsylvania riflemen ; and, hemmed in 
on all .sides, they grounded their arms and surrendered at 
discretion. 

Stark, with his detachment, had assaulted the south 
side of the town, and the firing in that quarter had added 
to the general confusion. A party of British hght-horse, 
and five hundred Hessians stationed there " took headlong 
flight, by the bridge across the Assunpink," and thus 
escaped and joined Donop at Bordentowu. Had Colonel 
Ewing been able to cross, according to the arrangement, 
their escape would have been prevented. 

The Americans took one thousand prisoners, of whom 
thirty-two were oflicers ; of their own number, only two 
were killed, and two were frozen to death on the march. 
Several were wounded, among whom was James Monroe, 



PLANS TO DRIVE THE ENEMY OUT OF JERSEY. 395 

afterward President of the United States, wlio was at this CHAP, 
time a lieutenant in the army. 

The attack designed by Reed and Cadwallader, like 1T7«. 
that of Colonel Ewing, was prevented by the ice, which 
made it impossible for them to embark their cannon. 
Thus the success was incomplete, and Washington at 
Trenton, encumbered by his prisoners, with a strong force 
of the enemy below him, under Count Donop, and another 
in his rear at Princeton, prudently resolved to recross the 
Delaware. 

Before he left the town, he, with General Greene, visit- 
ed Colonel Eahl, who survived until the evening of the 
day after the battle. The dying Colonel remembered his 
grenadiers, and during this visit he commended them to 
the consideration of Washington. Kahl lies buried in the 
grave-yard of the Presbyterian church in Trenton. 

When Washington had disposed of his prisoners, and 
allowed his troops a little time to recruit, he resolved to 
return and follow up his success, before the enthusiasm it 
had awakened had time to cool. Meantime, he had re- 
ceived from Reed and Cadwallader, who had crossed on 
the twenty-seventh, the encouraging news that all the T't^o. 
Hessian- posts on the river were deserted ; that Count 
Donop had retreated with all haste to Brunswick, with a 
portion of his forces, whilo the remainder had made their 
way to Princeton. 

" A fair opportunity is now otFered," writes Washing- 
ton at this time, " to drive the enemy out of New Jersey," 
and he formed his plans accordingly. The American 
forces, now no longer needed to guard the Delaware, were 
gradually concentrating at Trenton. Parties were sent to 
harass the retreating enemy, and General Heath was or- 
dered to make a demonstration from the Highlands, as if 
he intended to attack New York. The New England 
regiments, whose terms were about to expire, were induced 
by a bounty of ten dollars and the persuasions of their 



396 HISTOEY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, officers to remain six weeks longer. Men of standing and 

influence were sent abroad to rouse the militia of New 

1776. Jersey to avenge the outrages inflicted upon the people 
by the Hessians. Matters began to wear a brighter aspect, 
and hope and enthusiasm were revived. 

At this crisis, Washington received the highest mark 
of confidence in the gift of the people — Congress invested 
him with unhmited military authority for six months. 
The letter of the committee which conveyed to him this 
resolution closed with these words : " Happy is it for this 
country that the general of their forces can safely be in- 
trusted with the most unlimited power, and neither per- 
sonal security, liberty, nor property be in the least endan- 
gered thereby." ' 

Nothing could exceed the astonishment of Howe when 
he learned that his Hessians, veterans in war, had fled 
before the militia. Cornwallis was hurried back to resume 
his command in the Jerseys. 

Washington, anxious to ascertain the movements and 
designs of the enemy, sent forward Colonel Eeed, wiio 
was well acquainted with the country, to reconnoitre. 
With Reed were six young horsemen, members of the 
" Philadelphia City Troop," full of fire and zeal, but who 
had never seen active service. No reward could induce 
the terror-stricken people to approach Princeton and bring 
them information. Nothing daunted, the party dashed 
on till they were in view of the top of the college building, 
when they observed a British dragoon passing from a barn 
to a farm-house. Supj)osing him to be a marauder, they 
determined to capture him, and obtain the desired infor- 
mation. Presently they saw another, and another. They 
charged at once and surrounded the house, " and twelve 
dragoons, well armed, with their pieces loaded, and hav- 

' Correspondence of the Revolution vol. iv. p. .552. 



2. 



BOTH ARMIES OX THE BANK? OF ASSUXPINK CREEK 397 

ing the advantage of the house, surrendered to seven ^J\lV- 

horsemen, six of whom had aever seen an enem}' before, 

and, almost in sight of the British army, were brought 1770. 
into the American camp at Trenton, on the same even- 
ing." ' The sergeant of the dragoons alone escaped. The 
information obtained from these prisoners was most im- 
portant. Cornwallis, with a body of picked troops, had 
joined Colonel Grant the day before at Princeton, and they 
were ready to march the next day upon Trenton, with a 
strong force of seven or eight thousand men. 

In anticipation of an attack, Washington arranged 
his men, in number about six thousand, in a favorable 
position on the east bank of Assunpink creek. As the 
enemy approached, on the second of January, their ad- Jan 
vance was harassed, and so eflFectually held in check, by 
forces sent forward under General Greene and Colonel 
Hand, that they did not reach Trenton till near sunset. 
The fords and bridge over the creek were carefully guarded 
and defended by the American batteries. Cornwallis made 
repeated attempts to cross, but was as often repulsed ; at 
each repulse a shout ran along the American lines. Think- 
ing that the struggle might be a desperate one, the British 
commander concluded to defer it till the next day, and 
retired with the boast that he would " bag the fox in the 
morning." Both armies kindled their camp-fires, and 
once more they rested in sight of each other. 

Never had the prospect of the Americans been so 
gloomy. The officers gathered at the quarters of General 
Mercer to hold a council of war ; to retreat was impossi- 
ble ; behind them was the Delaware, filled with floating 
ice. Who could propose an expedient that would relieve 
them from the present dilemma ? Such an expedient, 
one of the boldest and best conceived of the whole war, 

' Life of Colonel Reed, p. 369. 



398 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^^P- had crossed the mind of the Commander-in-chief. He 

judged that the main division of the British forces was 

1777. with Cornwallis ; that Princeton and Brunswick, where 
their stores were deposited, could be but imperfectly 
guarded. He proposed to march by a circuitous and 
obscure road, around the left flank of the enemy, to 
Princeton, capture the forces there, and then push on and 
seize the stores at Brunswick. The plan was accepted at 
once, and the officers entered into it with alacrity. The 
stores were sent down the river to Burlington, and various 
stratagems were resorted to to deceive the enemy. Small 
parties were left behind, some to be noisily employed in 
digging trenches within hearing of their sentinels ; others 
to relieve the guards and replenish the camp-fires, and 
preserve all the appearance of a regular encamjjment ; at 
daylight these were to hasten after the army. 

About midnight the Americans began their silent 
march. The road over which they moved was new and 
rough, and at sunrise they were still three miles from 
Princeton. Here they halted, and formed into two divi- 
sions, one of which, under Washington, was to proceed 
by a cross-cut to the town, while the other, under General 
Mercer, was to gain the main road, and destroy the bridge, 
when they had passed over, to prevent the approach of 
Cornwallis. 

Three British regiments had passed the night at 
Jiin. Princeton, and two of them were already on their march 
to join the forces at Trenton. Colonel Mawhood, com- 
mander of the foremost, when about two miles from the 
town, caught sight of Mercer's division. Believing it a 
party of Americans who had been driven from Trenton, he 
sent back a messenger to Princeton to hurry on the other 
regiments, that they might surround them, and cut ofi" 
their retreat. Presently Mercer espied the British, and 
now both parties rushed to gain a favorable position on a 
rising ground. The Americans were successful, and with 



BATTLE OF PRINCETON. 399 

their rifles opened a severe fire upon the enemy, who re- ^^^^• 

turned it vigorously. Almost at the first fire Mercer's , 

horse was shot under him, and the second officer in com- 1777. 
mand fell mortally wounded. The enemy took advantage 
of the confusion that followed the flill of the leaders, and 
rushed on with the bayonet. The Americans, who were 
without bayonets, unable to withstand the charge, gave 
way. As Mercer, now on foot, endeavored to rally them, 
he was struck down, bayoneted, and left on the field ap- 
parently dead. 

As his men retreated in confusion, a body of Pennsyl- 
vania militia, which Washington had sent to their aid, 
appeared in sight. Mawhood instantly checked his pur- 
suit of the fugitives, and opened upon these fresh troops a 
heavy fire of artillery, which brought them to a stand. 

Convinced by the continued firing that the conflict 
was serious, Washington spurred on in advance of his 
division, and just at this crisis had reached a rising ground 
near by, from which he witnessed the scene. He saw the 
scattered forces of Mercer, the hesitation of the militia ; 
every thing was at stake. He dashed forward in the face 
of Mawhood's artillery, exposed both to the fire of the 
enemy and the random shots of his own soldiers, and 
waving his hat called upon the faltering and broken forces 
to follow him. Inspired by his voice and example, they 
rallied at once and returned to the charge. At this mo- 
ment a Virginia regiment emerged from a neighboring 
wood, and with loud cheers engaged in the conflict ; while 
the American artillery, now within range, began to shower 
grape-shot upon the enemy. The figlit was desperate, 
but the field was won. Mawhood, who, a few minutes 
before, had felt certain of victory, now with great difficulty 
forced his way back to the main road, and retreated with 
all haste toward Trenton. 

The second regiment was attacked by the brigade un- 
der St. Clair ; broken and scattered, it fled across the 



400 niSTOR'S OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, fields towards New Brunswick. Alarmed at the general 

XXXI. p 1 1 • , • 

. rout, a part of the third regiment fled in the same direc- 

1777. tion, wiiile another portion took refuge in the college 

building. The American artillery was immediately brought 

to bear upon it, and they soon suri-endered. 

The British loss in this battle was about one hundred 

slain, and three hundred prisoners, while the Americans 

lost but few ; among these was the brave Colonel Haslet. 

Mercer, who was left on the field for dead, was after the 

battle discovered by Colonel Armstrong, still alive, but 

suffering greatly from his wounds, and exposure to the 

cold. He was borne to a neighboring farm-house, where, 

after a few days, he expired. As a soldier, he was brave ; 

as a man of sterling merit, he was worthy the respect of 

his adopted countrymen, for, like Montgomery, he was of 

foreign birth, and like him, he has won an honorable name 

among the heroes of the Revolution. 

Washington, eager to secure the stores so necessary 
for his army, pushed on some distance toward Brunswick. 
A little reflection convinced him that his troops, in their 
exhausted condition, could not reach there before they 
would be overtaken. They had been a night and a day 
without rest ; they were thinly clad, and some of them 
were barefoot. He stopped and held a consultation with 
his officers on horseback. They decided that it was inju- 
dicious to proceed. Grieved and disappointed, that they 
were unable to reap the advantage of their recent success, 
they turned their steps toward Morristown. 

When mornmg revealed to the enemy on the banks of 
the Assunpink the deserted camp of the Americans, Corn- 
wallis was greatly at a loss to divine to what covert tlie 
" fox " had fled. Soon the booming of cannon at Prince- 
ton gave him the desired information His thoughts 
turned at once to the stores at Brunswick : he must save 



THE BEITISH CONFINED TO THEIR CAMP. 401 

tliem from the hands of his enemy. His march back to ^^' 

Princeton was much impeded. The Americans had not 

forgotten to throw obstacles in his way. He found the 1777. 
bridge over Stony Creek, a few miles from the town, bro- 
ken down, and the party of Americans left for that pur- 
pose still in sight. Impatient of delay he urged on his 
soldiers, who, although the waters were breast high, dashed 
across the stream. Believing that Washington was in 
full march for Brunswick, he halted not at Princeton, but 
hurried on in pursuit with so much eagerness, that he did 
not observe that the Americans had diverged from the 
road. I 

The American army retreated to a strong position at 
Morristown. There the soldiers provided themselves huts, 
and remained until the last of May. 

For six months after the battle of Princeton no entei- 
prise of importance was undertaken by either party. 

The yeomanry of New Jersey were now thoroughly 
roused to preserve their State from further depredations. 
They warmly seconded the efforts of Washington, and 
greatly aided the detachments from the army, who were 
on the alert to cut off the foraging parties of the enemy ; 
and so effectually did they harass them, that they scarcely 
ventured out of sight of their camp. Thus unable to ob- 
tain provisions for his army, Cornwallis gradually with- 
drew within his lines, at Brunswick and Araboy, that he 
might be in communication with New York by water, 
whence alone he could draw his supplies. Thus those 
who, a few weeks before, were in possession of nearly all 
New Jersey, were now able to retain scarcely more of her 
soil than was sufficient for a camp. 

The success that had crowned the American arms at 
Trenton and Princeton cheered the hearts and revived the 
hopes of the patriots ; but they knew well that the enemy 
was checked, not conquered ; that the struggle must be 
renewed, and the result was still doubtful. 
2G 



402 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Washington had established his head-quarters at Mor- 

ristown, while the right wing of his army, under Putnam, 

1777. was stationed at Princeton, and the left was in the High- 
lands, under General Heath. Along this extended line, 
at convenient distances, were established cantonments. 
Though weak in numbers, the army was so judiciously 
posted that the enemy, deceived by its apjjarent strength, 
hesitated to attack it. 

Putnam, who had with him but a few hundred men, 
resorted to stratagem to hide his weakness. A British 
officer, who lay mortally wounded at Princeton, desired 
the presence of a military comrade in his last mo'tients. 
The kind hearted general could not deny the request ; he 
sent a flag to Brunswick in quest of the friend, who en- 
tered Princeton after dark. Every unoccupied house was 
carefully lighted, lights gleamed in all the college windows, 
and the Old General marched and countermarched his 
scanty forces to such effect, that the Britisli soldier, on 
his return to the camp, reported them as at least five 
thousand strong. 

The winter at Morristown was a season of comparative 
quiet, during which the Commander-in-chief was engaged 
in earnest efforts to improve the state of his army. The 
evil effects of the system of short enlistments adopted by 
Congress, and repeatedly protested against by Washing- 
ton, were severely felt at this juncture. The terms of 
great numbers were about to expire, and new recruits 
came in but slowly. To guard against the ravages of 
small-pox, which at times had been fatally prevalent in 
the army, these were inoculated as fast as they came in. 

The exchange of prisoners had become a subject of 
negotiation. At first the British refused to exchange on 
equal terms, on the plea that the Americans were rebels, 
but Howe, who had at this time about five thousand on 
his hands, opened a correspondence with Washington on 
the subject. Now the Americans in their turn object 



1 



SUFFERINGS OF AMERICAN PRISONERS. 403 

to aa 'exchange. Their captured couutrymen had been chap 

left to the tender mercies of the New York Tories, crowded 

into warehouses, which had been converted into prisons, 1777. 
or into loathsome hulks anchored in the bay ; fed with 
impure food, and left to languish in filth and nakedness. 
Thrilling tales are told of the sufferings of those confined 
in the sugar-house, and on board the Jersey, a prison- 
ship. More than ten thousand wretched American pris- 
oners died during the war, and were buried without cere- 
mony in shallow graves at Brooklyn, on Long Island. Of 
those who survived, scarcely one ever fully recovered from 
the effects of these hardships. 

Washington refused to recruit the British army by an 
exchange of well-fed and hale Hessian and British prison- 
ers, for emaciated and diseased Americans, whose terms 
of enlistment had expired, and who were scarcely able, 
from very weakness, to return to their homes. His policy 
was sanctioned by Congress — a severe policy, but author- 
ized by the necessities of the times. 

To supply the want of field-officers, Congress com- Feb, 
missioned five major-generals : Stirling, St. Clair, MifHin, 
Stephen, and Lincoln. The latter we have seen as the 
secretary of the first Provincial Congress of Massachu- 
setts. He was afterward the efficient commander of the 
militia of that State, and now he was promoted over the 
heads of all the brigadiers. In these appointments, Ar- 
nold, whose meritorious conduct on the battle-field, as 
. well as his seniority as a brigadier, entitled him to promo- 
tion, was entirely overlooked. He complained bitterly of 
this injustice ; the wound rankled in his proud breast ; 
from this hour, till he found consolation in revenge, he 
seems to have brooded over the disrespect shown him by 
his countrymen. 

Eighteen brigadier-generals were also commissioned, 
among whom were Glover, the leader of the Marblehead 
fishermen ; George Clinton, of New York, the sturdy 



404 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^?^?- guardian of the Highlands, and afterward Vice-President ; 

Woodford and Muhlenburg, of Virginia — the latter an 

1777. Episcopal clei-gyman, who at the commencement of hos- 
tilities had " laid aside the surplice to put on a uniform," 
raised a company of soldiers, and who continued in the 
army till the close of the war — and Hand and Anthony 
Wayne, of Pennsylvania. Wayne was by nature a sol- 
dier ; even in his school-days he turned the heads of his 
companions by telling them stories of battles and sieges, 
and drilled them in making and capturing mud forts. In 
later years he was so distinguished for his daring, that he 
became known in the army by the appellation of " Mad 
Anthony." 

An Irish adventurer named Conway, who professed to 
have served for thirty years in the French army, and to 
be thoroughly skilled in the science of war, was also com- 
missioned. He proved, however, more famous for intrigues 
than for military genius or courage. 

Congress also authorized the enlistment of four regi- 
ments of cavalry. The quartermaster's department was 
more perfectly arranged, and General Mifflin was placed 
at its head. 

The hospital department was also reorganized, and 
placed under the charge of Doctor Shippen, of the Medi- 
cal College at Philadelphia. His principal assistant was 
Doctor Craik, the friend and companion of Washington in 
his expeditions against Fort Du Quesne. 

Doctor Kush, one of the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence, and afterward celebrated in his profession, 
was appointed surgeon-general. The office of adjutant- 
general, resigned by Colonel Reed, was given to Timothy 
Pickering, of Massachusetts. 

Nor was the navy neglected. Of the vessels authorized 
to be built, several frigates had been finished and equipped, 
but the want of funds prevented the completion of the 
remainder, for the Continental money began to depreciate. 



MARAUDING EXPEDITIONS DANBURY BURNED. 405 

and loans could not be obtained. The entire American ^^■ 

fleet, under Admiral Hopkins, was at this time blockaded 

at Providence. But privateers, especially from New Eng- 1777. 
land, were eager in pursuit of British vessels trading to 
the West Indies, of which they captured nearly three 
hundred and fifty, whose cargoes were worth five millions 
of dollars. A profitable trade, principally by way of the 
West Indies, was also opened with France, Spain, and 
Holland, but it was attended by great risks, and a large 
number of Aiuerican vessels thus engaged fell into the 
hands of British cruisers. 

In the spring, while Washington still remained at 
Morristown, the British commenced a series of marauding 
expeditions. A strong party was sent up the Hudson to 
seize the military stores at Peekskill. General McDou- 
gall, finding it impossible to defend them against a force 
so superior, burned them, and retired with his men to the 
hills in the vicinity. As General Heath had been trans- 
ferred to the command in Massachusetts, Washington sent 
Putnam to command in the Highlands. 

A month later CornwaUis made an attack on a corps \.,y\] 
under General Lincoln, stationed at Boundbrook, a few 13. 
miles from Brunswick. The militia, to whom the duty 
was intrusted, imperfectly guarded the camp. Lincoln 
with difficulty extricated himself, after losing a few men , 
and some cannon. • 

Presently a fleet of twenty-six sail was seen proceed- 
ing up the Sound ; anxious eyes watched it from the shore. 
It was the intriguing Tryon, now a major-general, in com- 
mand of a body of Tories, two thousand strong, who was 
on his way to destroy the military stores collected at Dan- 
bury, Connecticut. He landed on the beach between 
Fairfield and Norwalk, on the afternoon of the twenty- 
fifth, and immediately commenced his march. April. 



406 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

xxxT' '^^^ alarm spread ; General Silliman, of the Con- 

necticut militia, called out his men, and sent expresses in 

1777. every direction. Arnold, who had been sent by Washing- 
ton, some months before, to prepare defences at Provi- 
dence, and obtain recruits, happened to be in New Haven 
when the express arrived with the intelligence of the in- 
road. He hastened with some volunteers to join Generals 
Wooster and Silliman, whose forces amounted to about 
six hundred militia ; and the whole company moved after 
the marauders. 

Tryon, who had marched all night, reached Danbury 
on the afternoon of the twenty-sixth. He commenced at 
once to destroy the magazines of stores. Although the 
inhabitants had abandoned their homes at his approach, 
he permitted his soldiers to burn almost every house in 
the village. By morning the work of destruction was 
complete. The militia were approaching, and the ma- 
rauders were compelled to run the gauntlet to their ships, 
twenty miles distant. 

The Americans were separated into two divisions, one 
under Wooster, the other under Arnold ; while the former 
was to harass the enemy in the rear, the latter was to 
make a stand at a convenient point in advance and ob- 
struct their progress. 

The brave Wooster, though sixty-eight years of age, 
led forward his men with great spirit. When they, un- 
used to war, faltered in the face of the enemy's musketry 
and artillery, he rode to the front and cheered them. 
" Come on, my boys," cried he, " never mind such random 
shots." At that moment a musket-ball pierced his side, 
and he fell from his horse mortally wounded. His soldiers 
now retreated in confusion. 

Arnold had made a stand at Eidgefield, two miles be- 
yond the spot where Wooster fell, and while the enemy 
was delayed by this skirmishing, he had throWn up a bar- 
ricade or breastwork. He acted with his usual daring. 



I 



DEATH OF GENERAL WOOSTEE. 407 

but, after a spirited resistance, his little force was over- ^^^^■ 

powered by numbers and driven back. As he was bring- . 

ing off the rear-guard his horse was shot under him ; 1777. 
before he could disengage himself from the struggling ani- 
mal, a Tory rushed up with a fixed bayonet, and cried 
out, " You are mj^prisoner." " Not yet," replied Arnold, 
as he coolly levelled his pistol and shot him dead. He then 
escaped, rallied his men, and renewed the attack. 

The determined resistance of the militia retarded the 
British so much, that they were forced to encamp for the 
night. The next day they were greeted with the same April 
galling fire from behind trees, fences, and houses, which 
continued until they came within range of the guns of 
their ships. They speedily embarked, fain to escape the 
rifles of the exasperated yeomanry. 

General Wooster was conveyed to Danbury, where he 
died surrounded by his family. His loss was greatly de- 
plored by the patriots. A neat monument in the ceme- 
tery of that place now marks his grave. 

When Congress learned of the gallant conduct of Ar- 
nold, they commissioned him a major-gjeneral, and pre- 
sented him with a horse richly caparisoned. Yet even 
this tardy acknowledgment of his military merit was 
marred, — the date of his commission still left him below 
his proper rank. He seemed to feel this second sHght 
more keenly than the first. 

The Americans resolved to retaliate in kind, and Colo- 
nel Eeturn Jonathan Meigs, of Connecticut, with one 
hundred and seventy men, passed over the Sound to the 
east end of Long Island. They carried their boats, during 

the night, fifteen miles across the neck, launched them May 

24- 
on the bay, passed over to Sag Harbor, and destroyed a 

great amount of provisions and forage, collected there for 

the British In addition, they burned twelve vessels, 



408 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

t'HAP. took ninety prisoners, and returned without losing a man, 

having passed over ninety mUes in twenty-five hours. 

1777. Though strenuous efforts were made to obtain recruits, 

the smalluess of the American army still continued ; want 
of funds crippled every measure. At the instance of 
Washington, Congress declared that tjjose redemptioners 
or indented servants who enlisted in the army should, by 
that act, become freemen ; and bounties in land were 
offered the Hessians to induce them to desert. 

Meanwhile' General Schuyler labored with great zeal 
in the northern department. But his feelings were se- 
verely tried by the aspersions which his enemies cast upon 
his character, and conduct of affairs. In the autumn of 
1776 he wrote : " I am so sincerely tired of abuse, that I 
will let my enemies arrive at the completion of their wishes 
as soon as I shall have been tried ; and attempt to serve 
my injured country in some Other way, where envy and 
detraction will have no temptation to follow me." But 
Congress would not accept his resignation. During the 
winter he made repeated appeals to the .Commander-in- 
chief for reinforcements and supplies, which, for want of 
means, could not be sent. There were but six or seven 
hundred men at Ticonderoga ; Carleton, he thought, 
might cross Lake Champlain on the ice and attack them ; 
if successful, he might follow out his original plan and 
push on to Albany. As the abuse of which Schuyler com- 
plained was continued, early in April he proceeded to 
Philadelphia, and demanded of Congress a committee to 
inquire into his conduct. Meantime General Gates had 
been ordered to take command at Ticonderoga. 

Schuyler's patriotism was not an impulse, not a matter 
of mere words, nor did injustice rouse in his breast, as in 
that of Arnold, the dark spirit of revenge. However, the 
committee reported in his favor ; and, with his character 
and conduct fully vindicated, he returned to the charge 
of the Northern Department. The ambitious Gates was 



NATIONAL FLAG. 409 

deeply chagrined aud disappointed ; he had flattered him- ^^^^\'- 

self that Schuyler would never resume his command, and 

regarded himself as virtually his successor. Professing to 1777. 
be aggrieved, he hastened to Philadeli:)hia to seek redress 
at the hands of Congress. 

The want of a national flag was greatly felt, especially 
in the marine service. Congress adopted the " Union 
Flag," with its thirteen stripes, but displaced the " Cross 
of St. George," and substituted for it thirteen stars ; to "^""''■ 
which one star has since been added for each additional 
State. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 

Ths Struggle excites an Interest in England and France. — Baron De Kalb. — 
Privateers fitted out in France. — Negotiiitions for Munitions of War. — 
Howe's Manoeuvres. — Burgoyne on his Way from Canada. — Ticonde- 
roga Captured. — St. Clair's Retreat to Fort Edward. — Efforts to arrest 
the Progress of Burgoyne. — Capture of General Prescott. — The secret 
E.xpedition. — -The British Fleet puts to sea. — The American Army at 
Germantown. — La Fayette. — Pulaski and Kosciusko. — Aid sent to 
Schuyler. — Howe lands at Elkton. — Battle of Brandywine. — Possession 
taken of Philadelphia. — Battle of Germantown. — Hessians repulsed at 
Fort Mercer. — Winter Quarteis at Valley Forge. 

CHAP '^^^ unfortunate result of the battle of Long Island ; the 
XXXII. loss of New York and Fort Washington ; ai»d the retreat 
across New Jersey, were all significant of the weakness of 
the patriot army. Intelligence of these disasters disheart- 
ened the friends of the cause in Europe. Edmund Burke, 
their firm friend, remarked that, although the Americans 
had accomplished wonders, yet the overpowering forces to 
be brought against them in the following campaign, must 
completely crush their hopes of Independence. Said he : 
" An army that is obliged, at all times, and in all situa- 
tions, to decline an engagement, may delay their ruin, but 
can never defend their country." 

The intelligent portion of the people of France were 
not indifferent spectators of this struggle ; it was watched 
with intense interest by her merchants, her manufacturers. 



1777. 




^-^-^i^^!^^ 



..if' -CS' 




^^-x^^^A 



^>^^ 





Sz^^^/^^ Z^^,^^^ 




FRIENDS OF THE CAUSE IN EUROPE ENCOURAGED. 411 

her statesmen. From the day on which Canada was wrested ^^Jl- 

from her, France had ardently hoped that her proud rival 

might in turn lose her own American colonies. Ten years 1777. 
before the commencement of hostilities, Choiseul, the en- 
lightened statesman and prime minister of Louis XV., sent 
an agent through the colonies, to ascertain the feelings of 
the people. That agent was Baron De Kalb, the sam 
who afterward so nobly served the cause in the American 
army. He was indefatigable in " collecting pamphlets, 
newspapers, and sermons," which he sent to bis employer. 
Choiseul gathered from them the proofs that the British 
king and ministiy, by their blindness and injustice, were 
fast alienating the good will of their colonists ; and he 
hoped by offering them, without restriction, the commerce 
of France, to alienate them more and more. Thus the 
minds of the French people and government were pre- 
pared to afford aid, but not under the present aspect of 
affairs. 

Early in the spring, intelligence reached Europe, that 
the American army, which was supposed to be broken 
beyond recovery, had suddenly rallied, boldly attacked, 
and driven the invaders out of New Jersey. It was 
scarcely thought possible. How could a handful of ill- 
disciplined, ill-armed yeomanry, so destitute of clothes 
that some of them froze to death while on duty, and oth- 
ers stained the snow with the blood that flowed from their 
naked feet, meet and defeat a regular army .P Surely, 
men who would thus cheerfully suffer, deserved independ- 
ence ! A thrill of enthusiasm was excited in their favor. 
They were regarded as a nation of heroes, and Washing- 
ton, because of his prudence and skill, was extolled as the 
American Fabius. 

With the connivance of the government, American 
privateers were secretly fitted out, and even permitted to 
sell their prizes in French ports, in spite of the protests 



412 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

xxxn ^^ ^^^ British ambassador. The government itself secretly 

sent arms and military stores for the American army. 

1777. This was done by means of a fictitious trading-house, 
known as " Hortales and Company." These supplies were 
to be paid for in tobacco, sent by the way of the West 
Indies. Soon after the battle of Lexington, secret nego- 
tiations on the subject had been entered ujjon in London 
by Beaumarchais, an agent of the French court, and Ar- 
thur Lee, who for some years had resided in that city as 
a barrister. The latter was a brother of Richard Henry 
Lee, of Virginia, for which colony he had acted as agent 
in England. The Secret Committee of Congress, in the 
mean time, sent Silas Deane to Paris, as an agent to obtain 
supplies. Though Deane appeared in that city simply as 
a merchant, he became an object of suspicion, and was 
closely watched by British spies. Beaumarchais now made 
arrangements with him to send three ships laden with 
military stores to the United States. Unfortunately two 
of these ships were captured by British cruisers ; the third, 
however, arrived opportunely to furnish some of the regi- 
April. ments recently enUsted at Morristown. 

Three months after the Declaration of Independence, 
Doctor Franklin was sent to join Deane in France, and 
thither, Lee was also directed to repair. To these com- 
missioners Congress delegated authority to make a treaty 
of alliance with the French court. They were admitted 
to private interviews by Vergennes, Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, and encouraged, but the government was not yet 
prepared to make an open declaration of its true senti- 
ments. 

The British ministry, by means of spies, obtained in- 
formatioif of some of these proceedings. They immedi- 
ately issued letters of marque and reprisal against the 
Americans, while Parliament cheerfully voted supplies 
'*"■ and men to prosecute the war. 



HOWE'S movements NEWS FROM THE NORTH. 413 

As tlie spring advanced, the enemy's movements were ^,^^.{1- 

watched with anxious interest. That he might observe 

tliem to better advantage, Washington, on the twenty- 1777. 
eighth of May, removed his camp to the heights of Middle- 
brook, a strong and central position. Early in June, Sir May. 
William Howe, who had received large reinforcements, 
and supplies of tents and camp equipage, established his 
head-quarters at Brunswick, about ten miles distant. 
He commenced a series of manoeuvres, and made a 
feint movement toward Philadelphia,- in the hope of draw- 
ing Washington from the heights into the open plain, 
where British discipline might prevail ; the latter was 
too cautious to be thus entrapped, and Howe, foiled in his 
attempt, retraced his steps to Brunswick. Presently he 
evacuated that place, and hastened with all speed toward 
Amboy. Washington sent an advance party in pursuit, 
but suspecting this move was also a feint, he followed 
slowly with the main body. The suspicion was just ; 
Howe suddenly wheeled, and by a rapid movement en- 
deavored to turn the Americans' left, in order to gain the 
passes and heights in their rear, but Washington saw his 
object in time to gain his stronghold. Unable to bring 
on an engagement, Howe in a few days withdrew his forces 
to Staten Island. J«™ 

Just before this time, important news had been received 
from the North. Burgoyne, who had succeeded Sir Guy 
Carleton, was about to advance by way of Lake Cham- 
plain, while a detachment under General St. Leger and 
Sir John Johnson, was to make its way by Oswego to the 
Mohawk river. On the very day that the British left 
New Jersey, further intelligence came from St. Clair that 
the enemy's fleet was actually approaching Ticonderoga, 
where he was in command. 

The force under Burgoyne was not precisely known ; 
it was, however, thought to be small, but in truth he had 
a finely equipped army of nearly ten thousand men, four- 



20, 



4l4 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

xxxn ^^*^'^ "^ whom were regulars, British and Hessian ; the 

remainder Canadians and Indians. It was furnished w-ith 

1777. one of the finest parks of field-artillery, under the com-- 
mand of General Phillips, who had acquired his great 
reputation as an artillery officer in the wars of Germany. 
He was also ably supported by the second in command, 
General Fraser, an officer of great merit; and who was 
characterized as the soul of the army. The Hessians 
were under Baron Keidesel. 

Near Crown Point, Burgoyne met the chiefs of the 
Six Nations in council, and induced four hundred of their 
.Inno. warriors to join him. A few days later he issued a bom- 
bastic proclamation, in which he threatened to punish the 
patriots who woidd not immediately submit, and to let 
loose upon them the Indians. 

St. Clair, who had but three thousand men, wrote to 
General Schuyler at Albany, that he could not defend 
Ticonderoga unless he had reinforcements, ending his let- 
ter by saying : " Every thing will be done that is practi- 
cable to frustrate the enemy's designs ; but what can be 
expected from troops ill-armed, naked, and uuaccoutred ? " 
Still unaware of the force of the enemy, he trusted in his 
position, and that he could hold out for some time. 

There was an abrupt hill on the edge of the narrow 
channel which connects Lakes Champlain and George. 
This hill commanded Fort Ticonderoga, and also Fort 
Independence, on the east side of. Champlain. It was 
thought by St. Clair, and others, to be absolutely inac- 
cessible for artillery. But the " wily Phillips," acting on 
the principle that " where a goat can go, a man may go ; 
and where a man can go, artillery may be drawn up," 
suddenly appeared on this hill-top. For three days he 
had been at work taking his cannon up the height, and in 
twenty-four hours he would be ready to " rain iron haU" 
on both the forts, from his Fort Defiance. 

The Americans must now evacuate the forts, or be 



burgoyne's advance — ST. claik's retreat. 415 

made prisoners. St. Clair chose the former. He oould P.Svn 

only escape in the night, and his preparations must he 

made in the face of the enemy. The two hundred bateaux 1777. 
were to be laden with stores, the women, the sick and 
wounded, and sent up South Eiver. St. Clair, with the 
main body, was to pass to Fort Independence, and with 
its garrison march through the woods to Skeenesborough, 
now Whitehall. With the greatest secrecy and speed, 
the arrangements were made ; the boats, concealed by the July 
deep shadows of the mountains, were under way ; the ^• 
main body had passed over the drawbridge to Independ- 
ence, and was on its march, and the rear division was just 
leaving Ticonderoga, when suddenly, about four o'clock in 
the morning, the whole heavens were lighted up ; a house 
on mount Independence was on fire, and its light revealed 
the Americans in full retreat. Alarm guns and beating 
of drums aroused the British. General Fraser was soon 
in motion with his division, the abandoned forts were 
taken possession of, and by daylight measures concerted 
to pursue the fugitives both by land and water. Fraser 
was to pursue St. Clair with his division, and General 
Keidesel to follow with his Hessians, while Burgoyne him- 
self sailed in his ships to overtake the American flotilla. 
On the afternoon of the next day, the flotilla reached 
Whitehall ; but scarcely were they landed, when the roar- 
ing of artillery told that the British gunboats had over- 
taken the rear-guard of galleys. Presently, fugitives from 
these brought intelligence that the British frigates had 
landed Indians, who were coming to cut off their retreat. 
Every thing was abandoned, and set on fire ; all took to 
flight toward Fort Anne, at which place, after a most 
harassing night-march, they arrived. The enemy appeared 
the same day, but were held in check by sharp skirmish- 
ing. The Americans thought this the vanguard of Bur- 
goyne's army, and they set Fort Anne on fire, and retreated 



41 G HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, sixteen miles further to Fort Edward, where General 

, Schuyler had just arrived with reinforcements. 

i777. General St. Clair continued his retreat, and at night 

arrived at Castleton ; his rear-guard, contrary to his ex- 
press orders, stopped six miles short of that place. The 
next morning, the guard was startled by an attack from 
Eraser's division, which had marched nearly all night. At 
the first onset a regiment of militia fled, but the regiments 
of Warner and Francis made a spirited resistance ; yet 
they were compelled to yield to superior numbers, and 
make the best retreat they could. St. Clair, in the mean 
time, pushed on through the woods ; after seven days, he 
appeared at Fort Edward, with his soldiers wearied and 
haggard from toil and exposure. 

Schuyler sent at once a strong force to put obstructions 
in Wood Creek ; to fell trees and break down the bridges 
on the road from Fort Anne to Fort Edward. ^ This being 
the only road across that rough and thickly wooded coun- 
^ try, it took Burgoyne three weeks to remove these obstruc- 
tions and arrive at Fort Edward. The British hailed 
with shouts of exultation the Hudson ; the object of their 
toil. It would be easy, they thought, to force their waj' 
July to Albany, in which place Burgoyne boasted he would eat 
his Christmas dinner. 

Schuyler now retreated to Saratoga. * In these reverses 
the loss of military stores, artillery, and ammunition was 
immense, and the intelligence spread consternation through 
the country. The American army under Schuyler con- 
sisted of only about five thousand men, the majority of 
whom were militia ; many were without arms, while there 
was a deficiency of ammunition and provisions. 

Just at this time, a daring and successful adventure 
mortified the enemy, and afibrded no little triumph to 
American enterprise. The commanding oflicer at New- 
port, General Prescott, famous for the arbitrary and con- 



A BRITISH FLEET PUTS TO SEA. 417 

temptuous manner iu which he treated the " rehek," S'H}; 

oifered a reward for the cai^ture of Arnold, who replied to 

the insult by offering half the sum for -the capture of 177". 
Prescott. It was ascertained, hy means of spies, that the 
latter was lodgini; at a certain house in the outskirts of 
the town. On a dark night a company of select men, 

with Colonel Barton at their head, crossed Narraganset J"'> 

. .13. 

Bay, in whale-boats, threading their way through the Brit- 
ish fleet. They secured the sentinel at the door, burst 
into the house, and seized Prescott, who was in bed. The 
astonished General only asked if he might put on his 
clothes. " Very few and very quick," replied Barton. 
He returned with his prisoner across the bay without being 
discovered. This was a counterpart to the capture of Lee, 
for whom Prescott was afterward exchanged. 

The uncertainty as to the designs of the enemy was 
perplexing. Washington learned from spies in New York 
that Howe was preparing for an expedition by water, but 
its destination was a profound secret. Burgoyne was evi- 
dently pressing on toward the South, to obtain possession 
of the Hudson. Did Howe intend to move up that river to 
co-operate with him, and thus cut off the communication 
between New England and the other States ; to make an at- 
tack on Boston, and thus employ the militia of those States 
at home, and prevent their joining Schuyler, or to endeavor 
to reach Philadelphia by water ? were questions difficult 
to answer. In the midst of these speculations as to its des- 
tination, the British fleet, on board of which were about 
eighteen thousand men, under the command of Howe, 
passed out through the Narrows, and bore away. Intelli- 
gence came in the course of ten days that it was seen off 
Cape May, and Washington moved the army across the .Jn\y 
Delaware to Germantown, a few miles from Philadelphia. ^^■ 

Presently it was ascertained that the fleet had sailed 
to the eastward. Was it to return to New York, or had 



41^ HISTORY OF THE AMERICANS' PEOPLE. 

xxxn ^^ ^^^'^'^^ ^*^*' Boston ? Till the designs of the enemy were 

more definitely known, the army was held in readiness to 

UV7. march at a moment's notice. 

While waiting for time to unravel these mysterious 
movements of Sir William, Washington visited Philadel- 
phia to consult with Congress, and to give directions for 
the further construction of fortifications on the Delaware, 
to prevent the enemy from ascending to the city. Some 
months before, Arnold, after refusing the command in tlie 
Highlands, offered him by Washington to soothe his 
v/ounded feelings, had accepted that in Philadelphia, and 
with the aid of General Mifflin, had already partially con- 
structed defences. 

The Duke of Uloucester, the brother of the king of 
England, at a dinner given him Ijy French officers in the 
town of Mentz, had told the story, and the cause of the 
rebellion then going on in America. A youth of nineteen 
belonging to one of the noble families of France was a 
listener. For the first time, he heard of the Declaration 
of Independence, and the full particulars of the struggle 
for liberty then in progress in the colonies beyond the At- 
lantic. His generous sympathies were enlisted ; he could 
appreciate the nobleness of their cause, and his soul wag 
fired with the desire to fly to their aid. Though happily 
married, and blest with wealth, high social position, and 
domestic joys, he was willing to leave them all, and risk 
his life in the cause of freedom. This young man was 
the Marquis De Lafayette. 

Though the French government was not prepared to 
take a decided stand, while the issue seemed doubtful, yet 
this consideration, instead of checking, inflamed his ardor. 
" Now I see a chance for usefulness, which I had not an- 
ticipated. I have money ; I will purchase a ship, which 
will convey to America myself, my companions, and the 
freight for Congress." Such were his words : and he se- 



LAFAYETTE THE FOREIGN OFFICERS. 419 

i 

cretly purchased a vessel, which Deane loaded with military ^^^|'j 

stores, and accompanied by eleven officers, among whom 

was the Baron De Kalb, he sailed directly for the United 1777. 
States. He landed on the coast of South Carolina, and 
proceeded at once to Philadelphia, to have an interview 
with Congress. The number of foieign officers who were 
•applicants for employment in the army was so great, that 
Congress found difficulty in disposing of them. Deane had 
been authorized to engage a few competent officers, but 
he seems to have accepted all who applied ; and many 
came as adventurers, and " even some who brought high 
recommendations, were remarkable for nothing but extrav- 
agant self-conceit, and boundless demands for rank, com- 
mand, and pay." ' 

But the earnest disinterestedness of Lafayette capti- 
vated all hearts. Though he offered to serve as a volun- 
teer without pay. Congress commissioned him a major- 
general, but without any special command. A few days 
after this Washington and Lafayette met — names to be 

ever linked in the annals of freedom. Congress also ac- Aug 

8 
cepted the services of Count Pulaski, already famous for 

his patriotic defence of his native Poland. His fellow- 
countryman, Thaddeus Kosciusko — a youth of twenty- 
one — afterward equally celebrated in fighting, though un- 
successfully, for the liberties of the same Poland, was 
already with General Schuyler, acting in the capacity of 
engineer. 

It was now ascertained that Sir Henry Clinton, whom 
Howe had left in command in New York, had a force 
sufficient, not merely to penetrate up the Hudson and co- 
operate with Burgoyne, but to send detachments and 
create a diversion in favor of Howe in the vicinity of Phil- 
adelphia. 

Just at this time came urgent appeals from Schuyler, 

I Hildreth, vol. iii. p. 194. 



420 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



xxxn *^"'^ Washington detached to his aid two brigades from 

the Highlands, and soon after Colonel Morgan with his 

177V. riflemen, to counteract the Indians, of whom the militia 
had a great dread. He had already sent Arnold, who 
would be of special service in that region — the scene of 
Ro;ne of his brilliant exploits. Now he directed General 
Lincoln, who was in Mssachusetts, to repair thither with a • 
portion of the militia of that State, and sent an express to 
Putnam to hold himself in readiness to repel any attack 
from Clinton, and prevent his forming a junction with Bur- 
goyne. We will now leave the affairs in the North till we 
have disposed of those connected with Howe's expedition. 

In the midst of uncertainty, Washington was about to 
issue orders for the army at Germantown to move toward 
New York, when an express brought him the intelligence 
that the British fleet had passed into the Chesapeake. 
The mystery was' easily explained. Howe had learned of 
the obstructions in the Delaware, and he now designed to 
land his troops at the head of the Chesapeake, and march 
thence to Philadelphia, while the fleet should return, and 
in concert with the land forces, reduce the forts on the 
Delaware. After being delayed some weeks by adverse 
winds, his army was now landed at Elkton, about sixty 
miles from Philadelphia. His first demonstration was to 
issue another of his famous proclamations ; again he offered 
pardon to those rebels who would submit, and promised 
A lie protection to those persons who would remain peaceably 
25. at home. 

The main body of the American army was still at 
Germantown, where the militia, that had been called out, 
had assembled. Washington was sadly deficient in men 
and means to meet the British in ofen conflict ; and there 
were no hills in the region, which he could occupy. He 
had only eleven thousand effective men ; there was none 
of that enthusiasm which was then bringing the militia in 



BATTLE OF BRANDY WINE. 42] 

thousands to repel Burgoyne. The Quakers of Dekwaro ciiap. 

and Pennsylvania were at best but lukewarm in the cause, 

while the Germans wished to be neutral, and to avoid tlie 1777. 
expense. 

Washington concentrated his army in the vicinity of 
Wilnaington, but after examining the country resolved to 
fall back beyond the Brandy wine creek, which was every- 
where fordable. The main road to Philadelphia crossed 
the creek at Chadd's Ford. This, it was thought, would 
be the main point of attack. A hill overlooking the ford 
had been intrenched, and there Wayne was stationed with 
the artillery. The right wing was commanded by Sulli- 
van, who had just arrived with three thousand men from 
Jersey ; his division extended two miles up the creek. 
The left wing, under General Armstrong — the same who 
destroyed the Indian town of Kittaning — extended a mile 
below ; while General Greene, with the reserve, was sta- 
tioned iu the rear of the centre on the hills. 

In the morning, the enemy, in heavy column, was sept, 
descried moving toward Chadd's Ford. This division ^^• 
could be only partially seen, because of intervening woods, 
but it appeared to be the main body of the enemy. Skir- 
mishing soon commenced between the riflemen and the 
enemy, who made several attempts to cross the ford, but 
were as often repulsed. 

Near raid-day a note from Sullivan stated he had heard 
that Howe, with a large body of troops, was passing up 
another road, with the intention of reaching the uppei 
fords of the creek, and then turning the right flank of the 
Americans. Washington sent a company to reconnoitre. 
In the mean time, he determined to throw his entire force 
on the enemy immediately in his front, and rout them be- 
fore they could obtain assistance from the division march- 
ing the other road ; his orders were given for both wings 
to co-ojjerate. This would have been a skilfid move, and. 



*22 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

xxxfi "^ ^^ probability, have secured the defeat of Knyphauseu, 

. who, with his Hessians, was in front. 

IVTT. At the moment Sullivan was comjilying with the order, 

unfortunately Major Spicer came from the upper fords, 
and reported that there was no enemy in that quarter. 
This information was transmitted to the Commander-in- 
chief, who, in consequence, countermanded the former 
order, till he could receive further information. After 
waiting some time, a patriot of the neighborhood, with his 
horse in a foam, dashed into the presence of Washingtoii, 
and declared that Howe was really passing the fords, and 
rapidly gaining the rear of the American army. Wash- 
ington replied, that he had just heard there was no enemy 
in that quarter. " You are mistaken, general," exclaim- 
ed the excited countryman ; " my life for it, you are mis- 
taken." And tracing the course of the roads in the sand, 
he showed him the position. All doubts were removed in 
a few minutes, by the return of the party sent to recon- 
noitre with intelligence that a large body of the enemy 
was fast gaining their rear. 

Lord Cornwallis, led by Tory guides, had marched a 
circuit of seventeen miles, and Knyphausen was merely 
waiting at Chadd's Ford for that circuit to be accom- 
plished. 

Sullivan was ordered to oppose Coinwallis, and Greene, 
with the reserve, to give aid where it might be needed. 
Sullivan made a vigorous resistance, but was forced to fall 
back to a piece of woods, in which the British became 
entangled. The Americans rallied on a hill, and there 
made a still firmer resistance, but were at length com- 
pelled to fall back. Greene was now ordered to move to 
their support, which he did with such rapidity, tliat his 
men marched, or rather ran, five miles in less than an 
hour. Such was the skilful disposition of his soldiers, 
that they not only checked the enemy, but opened theii 
ranks and let the retreating Americans pass through. This 



AMEEICANS RETREAT TO GERMANTOWN. 42o 

brave conduct of the reserve saved Wayne's division from ™^^^ 

a complete rout. He had stuhbornly withstood the Hes- 

sians at the Ford, hut when he saw the forces under Sul- 1777. 
hvan retreating, unable to cope with half the British 
army, he gradually, and in order, fell back. The Hessians 
were not disposed to press upon their determined foe. 
Thus ended the battle of Brandywine. The Americans 
were driven from the field, but the soldiers were not aware 
that they had suffered a defeat ; they thought they had 
received only a check. Though some of the militia gave 
way at once, the great majority fought bravely, met the 
enemy in deadly conflict with the bayonet, and forced 
them back ; but, at last, numbers prevailed. 

Lafayette behaved with great bravery and prudence ; 
he had leaped from his horse to rally the troops, when he 
was severely wounded in the leg. Count Pulaski also dis- 
tinguished himself greatly — riding up within pistol-shot 
of the enemy to reconnoitre. Congress promoted him to 
the rank of brigadier-general, and gave him the command 
of the horse. 

Sir William Howe loved repose, and he did not press 
his advantage, but remained two days encamped near the 
field of battle. 

During this time, the Americans retreated, first to 
Chester, and on the twelfth safely crossed the Schujdkill, 
and thence proceeded to Germantown ; there Washington 
let them repose a day or two. They were in good spirits, 
he prepared to meet the enemy again, and with this inten- 
tion crossed the river. About twenty-five miles from -^epL 
Philadelphia the two araiics met, but a furious storm pre- 
vented a conflict. The rain so much injured the arms and 
ammunition that Washington deemed it prudent once 
more to recross the river, and retire to Pott's Grove, about 
thirty miles from Philadelphia. General Wayne was de- 
tached, in the meanwhile, with fifteen hundred men, to 
secretly gain the rear of the British army, and cut off their 



42-4 HISTORY OF THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, baggage ; but a Tory carried information of the enter- 

'. prise, and Wayne himself was surprised, and after the loss 

1777. of three hundred men forced to retreat, 
on When it seemed certain that the city must fall into 

the hands of the British, the military stores were removed, 
and a contribution levied upon the inhabitants for blank- 
ets, clothes, shoes, and other necessaries for the army 
during the approaching winter. 

It was a time of great danger, and Congress again 
clothed Washington with absolute power, first for sixty 
days, and soon after for double that period. This done, 
that body adjourned, first to Lancaster, and then in a few 
days to York, beyond the Susquehanna. 

Howe, by a night march, was enabled to pass the 
Schuylkill ; he then pushed on a detachment which took 
^.^ possession of Philadelpliia, while the main body of his 
22. army halted at Germantown. 

Though the city was in the hands of the enemy, the 
Americans still held possession of the forts on the lower 
Delaware. 

With much exertion, Admiral Howe had brought the 
fleet round from the Chesapeake, and anchored it below 
the forts. Fort Mifflin was situated on a low mud island, 
at the confluence of the Schuylkill and the Delaware. 
Directly opposite, at Red Bank, on the Jersey shore, was 
Fort Mercer. These were furnished with heavy cannon. 
Heavy timbers framed together, with beams projecting, 
and armed with iron spikes, were sunk in the river by 
means of weights ; in addition to these obstructions, were 
floating batteries above. 

Washington having learned, from intercepted letters, 
that a detachment had left Germantovvn to aid the fleet 
m an attack on these forts, resolved to surprise the re- 
mainder. After a night's march of fourteen miles, he 
entered German town at sunrise. A dense fog concealed 



BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN. ^ 425 

the outskirts of the town, and he was unable to learn the char 

precise position of the enemy, or that of his own troops. 

The British, taken by surprise and thrown into confusion, 1777. 
gave way on all sides. The Americans, instead of pur- 
suing their advantage, lingered to attack a strong stone 
house, in which a few of the enemy had taken refuge, 
when an unaccountable panic seized them ; the complete Oet. 
victory within their grasp was lost. The enemy now ral- •*• 
lied and attacked in their turn ; but the Americans re- 
treated without loss, and carried off all their cannon and 
their wounded. 

Washington, in writing to Congress, says : " Every 
account confirms the opinion I at first entertained, that 
our troops retreated at the instant when victory was de- 
claring herself in our favor." And such is the testimony 
of many officers in their letters to their friends. 

The effect of the bold attack upon Germantown was 
soon perceptible, in the spirit of the Americans. One 
writes : " Though we gave away a complete victory, we 
have learnt this valuable truth, that we are able to beat 
them by vigorous exertions, and that we are far superior 
in point of swiftness ; we are in high spirits." Again we 
find expressions of confidence of a different character. An 
ofiicer writes : " For my own part, I am so fully convinced 
of the justice of the cause in which we are contending, 
and that Providence, in its own good time, will succeed 
and bless it, that were I to see twelve of the United 
States overrun by our cruel invaders, I should still, believe 
the thirteenth would not only save itself, but also work 
out the deliverance of the others." 

Howe immediately withdrew his troops from German- 
town. He must either obtain possession of the forts, that 
his fleel; might come up, or evacuate the city for want of 
provisions. The Americans, on the other hand, resolved 
to defend the forts to the last extremity. Howe sent 
Count Donop, with twelve hundred picked men, grena- 



426 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPI-E. 

9^^K- diers, to make an assault on Fort Mercer, while the men- 

of-war should open on Fort Mifflin and the floating bat- 

J777. teries. The outworks of Fort Mercer were not fully com- 
tjo'' pleted, when Count Donop suddenly appeared. Colonel 
Christopher Greene ordered the men — four hundred Rhode 
Island Continentals — to keep out of sight as much as 
possible. To deceive the enemy, he made a short stand 
at the outer works, and then retreated rapidly to the inner 
redoubt. The enemy advanced in two columns ; the 
Americans received them with a brisk fire, and then re- 
treated in haste. The Hessians thought the day their 
own, and with shouts of triumph rushed to storm the inner 
redoubt. They were met by an overwhelming discharge 
of grape-shot and musketry, and completely repulsed, with 
the loss of four hundred men ; the Americans lost but 
eight slain and twenty-nine wounded. After the battle, 
as an American officer was .passing among the slain, a 
voice called out : " Whoever you are, draw me hence." 
It was Count Donop. A few days afterward, when he 
felt his end approaching, he 'lamented his condition. " I 
die," said he, " the victim of my ambition, and of the 
avarice of my sovereign." 

Fort Mifflin was commanded by Colonel Samuel Smith, 
of Maryland. In their attack upon it, the British .lost 
two men-of-war — one of which was blown up, the other 
burned. 

Meantime the enemy received reinforcements from 

. New Y.ork, and were able to take possession of another 

island, on which they erected batteries, and opened an 

incesssmt fire upon Fort Mifflin. After a most undaunted 

defence, both forts were abandoned, and the enemy left to 

^''"'' remove the obstructions in the river at their leisure. 

On the twenty-ninth, Washington retired tcf White 
Marsh, fourteen miles from Philadelphia. Before going 
into winter-quarters, Howe thought to surprise his camp. 
A Quaker lady, Mrs. Darrah, overheard some British 



6. 



WINTER QUARTERS AT VALLEY FOKGE. 427 

officers speaking of the intended exi)edition ; she imme- S'Mf/ 

diately gave Washington information of what was going 

on. Preparations were made to give the British a warm 1777. 
reception. A company was sent to harass them on their 
night-march. Finding themselves discovered, they hesi- 
tated to press on. The next day, Howe labored to draw Deo. 
Washington into the plain, where British discipline might 
be successful. When he saw the effort was useless, he 
retired to Philadeljjhia. 

Congress now summoned the militia to repair to the 
main army. A few days after Howe's withdrawal from 
Germantown, Washington also retired to winter-quarters 
at Valley Forge, a rugged hollow on the Schuylkill, about 
twenty miles from Philadelphia. He could thus protect 
the Congress at York, as well as his stores at Beading. 

We now turn to relate events — most important in 
their influence — which, during the last few months, had 
transpired ih the North. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 

Tlio Invasion from Canada. — Appointment of General Gates. — Burgoyne'i 
Advance. — Jenny McCrea. — St. Leger besieges Fort Stanwix. — Tlie 
Attempt to relieve it. — St. Leger retreats. — Battle of Bennington. — 
Change of Prospects. — Battle of Behmus's Heights. — Ticonderoga be- 
sieged. — Burgoyne surrenders his Army at Saratoga. — The Prisoners. 
Capture of Forts on the Hudson. — Schuyler. 

CHAP. The ualooked for loss of Ticonderoga, with the disasters 
' that so rapidly followed, startled the people of the nortli- 

1777. ern States more than any event of the war. So little 
did Congress appreciate the difficulties under which Schuy- 
ler and his officers labored, that they attributed these 
misfortunes to their incapacity. John Adams, then Presi- 
dent of the Board of War, gave expression to this feel- 
ino- when he wrote : " We shall never be able to defend a 
post till we shoot a general." In the excitement of the 
moment, Congress ordered all the northern generals to be 
recalled, and an inquiry instituted into their conduct. 
The northern army would thus be without officers ; but, 
on a representation to this effect, Washington obtained 
a suspension of the injudicious order. Clamors against 
Schuyler were renewed with greater violence than ever. 
In truth, many members of Congress were influenced by 
an unreasonable prejudice, which had been excited in New 
England against him. When Washington, whose confi- 
dence in Schuyler was unshaken, declined to make any 



1777. 



BURGOYNE'S proclamation — JENNY m'^crea. 429 

change in the Northern Department, " Congress made the ^f'^^j 
nomination ; the Eastern influence prevailed, and Gates 
received the appointment, so long the object of his aspi- 
rations, if not intrigues." ' 

The -correspondence between Washington and Schuy- 
ler makes known the plan upon which they agreed to repel _ 
tlie invaders. This was to keep bodies of men on their 
flank and rear, intercept their supplies, and cut off the 
detachments sent from the main army. We shall see how 
completely this plan succeeded. 

Confident of subduing the " rebels," Burgoyue, on his 
arrival at Fort Edward, issued a second proclamation, in 
which he called upon the people to appoint deputies to 
meet in convention at Castleton, and take measures to 
re-establish the royal authority. To counteract this, 
Schuyler issued a proclamation, threatening to punish 
those as traitors who in this manner should aid the enemy. 
Burgoyne's proclamation had no effect ; the hardy yeo- 
manry were too patriotic. The whole northern portion of 
the country was deeply moved, and the militia rallied 
to arms. 

The Indians of Burgoyne's army prowled about the 
country, murdering and scalping. A beautiful girl, Jenny 
McCrea, the daughter of a Scotch Presbyterian clergy- 
man, of New Jersey, who died before the war, was visiting 
a friend in the vicinity of Fort Edward. Her family were 
Whigs ; she was, however, betrothed to a young man, 
David Jones, a Tory, who had gone to Canada some time 
before, and was now a lieutenant in Burgoyne's army. 
When Fort Edward was about to be abandoned, her 
brother urged her to leave with the families of the neigh- 
borhood, who were going out of danger to Albany. Slie 
lingered ; she hoped, perhaps, to see her lover, but as 

' Washington Irving. 



430 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAK PEOPLE. 

9jJ\Yj danger drew nearer she prepared to comply with her 

' brother's request. 

1777. At the moment of leaving, a band of Indif^ns, sent by 

Burgoyne to harass the Americans, burst into the house, 
and carried her off a captive. Anxious for her safety, she 
jjromised her captors a reward, if they would take her to 
the British camp. On the way, the Indians quarrelled as 
to who should have the promised reward, and one of them 
in a rage killed the poor girl, and carried off her scalp. 
This murder sent a thrill of horror throughout the land. 
The people remembered the murders of former days, when 
the Indians were urged on by French influence ; and now 
they asked. Must those scenes be re-enacted by the savage 
hirelings of England, our mother country ? And they 
flocked in thousands to repel such an enemy. Thus " the 
blood of this unfortunate girl was not shed in vain. Ar- 
mies sprang up from it. Her name passed as a note of 
alarm along the banks of the Hudson ; it was a rallying- 
ing word among the green mountains of Vermont, and 
brought down all her hardy yeomanry." ' 

St. Leger bad passed up the Oswego, and was besieg- 
ing Fort Stanwix, or Schuyler. This fort was on the 

Aug-. Mohawk, at the carrying-place to Lake Oneida. With 
St. Leger was Sir John Johnson, with his Eoyal Greens, 
and his savage retainers, the Mohawks, under the cele- 
brated chief, Brant. This Brant had been a pupil in 
Wheelock's school — since Dartmouth College — establish- 
ed for the education of Indians and others. The fort was 
held by two New York regiments, under Colonels Ganse- 
voort and Willet. General Herkimer raised the militia 
of the neighborhood, and went to relieve the fort. But 
owing to the impatience of his men, he fell into an ambus- 
cade of Tories and Indians. Johnson's Greens were Tories 
from this vicinity, and neighbor met neighbor in deadly 

Washington Irving. 



3. 



DEATH OF HERKIMER RETREAT OF ST. LEGEB. 431 

couflict. It was one of the most desperate encounters of 
the war ; quarter was neither given nor asked. There 
were instances, when all was over, where the death-grasp HTT. 
still held the knife plunged into a neighbor's heart. It 
seems as if the fight had been presided over by demons. 
The brave old Herkimer was mortally wounded, but lean- 
ing against a tree, he continued to encouiage his men, till 
a successful sortie from the fort compelled the enemy to 
defend their own camp. The Americans retreated, taking 
with them their worthy commander, who died a few days 
after. 

The fort was still in a precarious condition, and must 
be relieved. When intelligence of this came to the army, 
Arnold volunteered to march to its aid. To frighten the 
Indians he employed stratagem. He sent in advance the 
most exaggerated stories of the number of his men, and 
proclaimed that Burgoyne had been totally defeated. As 
anticipated, the Indians deserted in great numbers. The 
panic became so great, that two days before Arnold arrived 
at the fort, St. Leger had retreated, leaving Iris tents 
standing. 22. 

General Schuyler now moved from Saratoga down to 
the mouth of the Mohawk, and there intrenched himself. 
The British had the full command of Lake George ; but, 
with all their exertions, they were nearly out of provisions. 
The distance from the upper end of that lake to the Hud- 
son was only eighteen miles, but so etfectively had the 
draft-cattle and horses been removed, that it seemed al- 
most impossible to transport their baggage. 

To obtain horses for a company of dismounted German 
dragoons, and seize stores collected at Bennington, Ver- 
mont, Burgoyne sent a detachment of Indians and Tories, 
and five hundred Germans, under Lieutenant-colonel 
Baum. He had been told that the grain and provisions 
deposited in that place were but poorly guarded. He was 



432 HISTORY OF THE AMEBIC AK PEOPLE. 

CHAP, also made to telieve that five to one of the people were 

— royalists. 

ITTT. It was soon noised abroad that the enemy were on the 

way, and the Green Mountain Boys began to assemble. 
Colonel Stark having been slighted, as he thought, at the 
recent appointment of officers by Congress, had withdrawn 
from the Continental army. He was invited to take com- 
mand of the assembling yeomanry ; he accepted the invi- 
tation with joy. Expresses were sent in every direction 
to warn the people to drive off their cattle and horses, and 
conceal their grain and wagons, and also to Manchester, 
tor Seth Warner to hasten to Bennington with his regi- 
ment. 

When Baum — wlio moved very slowly, his men stop- 
ping in the woods every few minutes to dress their lines — 
ut was within six miles of Bennington, he heard of Stark's 
approach ; he halted, began to intrench, and sent to Bur- 
goyne for reinforcements. Colonel Breyman was sent to 
his aid, with five hundred Hessians and two field-pieces, 
A severe storm prevented Stark from making an attack, 
and also retarded the march of Breyman and Warner. 
During the night the Berkshire militia joined Stark. An 
incident may show the sjiirit of the times : " Among these 
militia was a belligerent parson, full of fight, Allen by 
name, possibly of the bellicose family of the hero of Ticon- 
deroga." ' " General," cried he, " the peoisle of Berkshire 
have been often called out to no purpose ; if you don't 
give them a chance to fight now they will never turn out 
acain." " You would not turn out now, while it is dark 
and raining, would you 7 " demanded Stark. " Not just 
now," was the re})ly. " Well, if the Lord should once 
more give us sunshine, and I don't give you fighting 
enough," rejoined the veteran, " I'll never ask you to turn 
out again. ' 

' Irviiiff. 



BATTLE OF BENNINGTON CHANGE OF PROSPECTS. 433 

The next morning the sun did shine, and Stark drew ^¥^i 

out his forces. When he came in sight of the enemy, . 

turning to his men he exchiimed : " There are the red- 1777. 
coats ! We must beat to-day, or Molly Stark's a widow." iJ^' 
The attack was made in both rear and front at the same 
time. The Indians and Tories generally fled to the woods. 
Baum defended his lines with great determination, and 
his field-pieces were well manned, but after two hours' 
fighting, the works were stormed. The Americans had 
no artillery, but they rushed up within a few yards of the 
enemy's cannon, the better to take aim at the gunners. 
At length Baum fell mortally wounded, and his men sur- 
rendered. 

Scarcely was the battle ended, when Breyman appeared 
on the one side, and Warner, who had marched all night 
in the rain, on the other. The fighting was renewed, and 
continued till night. Favored by the darkness, Breyman 
left his artillery and made the best of his way back to 
Burgoyne. About two hundred of the enemy were slain, 
and six hundred taken prisoners. A thousand stand of 
arms and four pieces of artillery fell into the hands of the 
Americans, who had but fourteen killed and forty wounded. 

What a change a few weeks had produced in the pros- 
pects of the two main armies ! To the American, the 
militia were flocking, the brigades from the Highlands had 
arrived, and Morgan with that terror of the Indians, his 
riflemen, five hundred strong. Disasters, in the mean 
while, crowded upon Burgoyne. The side enterprises of 
St. Leger and Baum had tailed ; the New Hampshire and 
Massachusetts troops were pressing on toward Ticondfroga 
to cut off his supplies and intercourse with Canada/ The 
Indians, in great numbers, were deserting. T^ey had 
taken umbrage because their atrocities were to be hereafter 
restrained Burgoyne was a gentleman, humane and cul- 
tivated ; he abhorred these outrages, and, to his honor be 
it said, preferred that the savages should leave his army, 
28 



Sept. 



434 HISTORY OS THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, rather than they should remain and be unrestrained. The 

' disgrace of employing them belongs to his government at 

1777. home, not to him. 

It was at this juncture that Gates arrived to take 
command. He found the army in high spirits, nearly six 
thousand in number, and increasing every day. Schuyler 
met him with his usual highminded courtesy, explained 
fully the condition of the two armies, and offered him all 
the assistance he could give, by his counsel or otherwise. 
So little could Gates appreciate such generous impulses, 
that, a few days after, when he called his first council of 
war, he omitted to invite Schuyler. 

Leaving the islands at the mouth of the Mohawk, 
Gates moved up the river and took position on Behmus's 
Heights — a ridge of hills extending close to the river-bank 
and lying just south of Saratoga. There he intrenclicd 
his army by strong batteries on the right and left. 

Burgoyne had thrown a bridge of boats over the Hud- 
son, and led over tlie English portion of his army to Sara- 
toga, while the Hessians remained on the eastern side. 
Both divisions moved slowly down the river. There were 
deep ravines and woods between the two armies, and knolls 
covered with dense forests ; also, in one place, a cleared 
field. On the nineteenth it was announced that tlie 
enemy were in motion toward the American left. Here 
Arnold commanded, while Gates took charge of the right. 
It was the intention of the British to draw the Americans 
in that direction, and then to make an assault on their 
centre, when thus weakened, and cut their way through 
to Albany. Gates designed to wait the attack in his 
camp, but Arnold wished to hold the enemy in check, and 
not permit them to turn the American left. After much 
solicitation, he obtained permission from Gates to send 
Morgan with his riflemen to check the enemy. The rifle- 
men soon met, and put to flight the advance-guard, but 
pursuing them with two much ardor they came upon a 



BATTLE OF BEHMUS'S HEIGHTS. 435 

stronpr column, and were themselves forced to fall back in ^^^}' 

confusion. Arnold now came to then- aid with other regi- 

ments, and soon he was contending almost hand to hand 1777. 
with the entire British right wing. He sent repeatedly 
to Gates for reinforcements, whicli the latter refused to 
send, and excused himself on the groxind that he would 
thus weaken his own wing ; and Arnold, with only three 
thousand men, was left for four hours to sustain the attack. 
The severest conflict was around, and in the open field. 
The Americans were posted on the one side in a dense ^^ 
wood, where cannon could not be used ; the British on 
the opposite side in a thin pine grove, where they could 
use their artillery. When the British would move into 
the field, the American riflemen would drive them back, 
and when the Americans became the pursuers, the British 
would sweep their ranks with their cannon. A dozen 
times this field was lost and won. The riflemen repeat- 
edly took possession of the British artillery, but the rough- 
ness of the ground would not permit them to secure the 
guns ; and before they could turn them, they themselves 
were driven off at the point of the bayonet. Night ended 
the contest ; the Americans withdrew to their camp, and 
the British remained on the field of battle. The latter 
lost more than five hundred, while the Americans lost 
less than three hundred. They looked uj^on the result as 
a triumph ; they had accomplished all they intended, and 
the enemy had failed in their designs. 

Two days before the battle of Behmus's Heights, a 
detachment of Lincoln's militia, under Colonel Brown, 
had seized the posts at the outlet of Lake George ; also a 
fleet of bateaux laden with provisions for Burgoyne's ar- 
my, and three hundred prisoners. The same party united 
with another, and laid siege to Ticonderoga. 

Burgoyne's intercourse with Canada was thus cut off; 
his provisions were fast diminishing, and his horses were 
dying for want of forage. At this moment of darkness 



436 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, came a gleam of light — a note from Sir Henry Clinton — 
infoiming him that in a few days he woukl make an effort 

IV77. to aiscend the Hudson. In hopes of maintaining his posi- 
tion until Clinton could relieve him, Burgoyne hegan to 
fortify his camp. For nearly three weeks the two armies 
watched each other. Almost every day advanced parties 
skirmished, but as Gates was deficient in ammunition, he 
hesitated to attack. 

Meantime there was trouble in the American camp. 
The soldiers attributed the success of the late battle to 
generalship of Arnold. But for some reason, jealousy 
perhaps, Gates removed him from his command. 

Hearing nothing further from Clinton, Burgoyne re- 
solved to risk a battle, and cut his way through the oppos- 
ing force. He therefore sent a detachment of fifteen 
hundred picked men to take position within a mile of the 
Oct American lines. A New Hampshire brigade attacked 
this division furiously, and Morgan, with his riflemen, 
managed to cut them off from their camp. 

Arnold was in his tent, brooding over the treatment 
he had received, and had almost resolved to leave the 
army. Suddenly lie heard the noise of battle ; las ruling 
passion was instantly on fire. Mounting his horse, he rode 
with all speed to the scene of conflict. Gates, who saw 
him as he dashed away, exclaimed : " He will do some 
rash thing," and sent after him orders, by Major Wilkin- 
son, to return ; but in vain, — Arnold heard only the roar 
of battle. He rushed into the thickest of the fight, cheered 
on the men, who answered him with shouts of recognition. 
To those looking on, he seemed insane. By his exertions 
the British lines were broken again and again, but as often 
General Frazer would rally his men and renew the conflict. 
Piesently Frazer fell mortally wounded by one of Morgan's 
riflemen. The whole line gave way, abandoned their can- 
non, and with the greatest efibrt regained their camp. In 



buegotne's surrender. 437 

spite of a shower of grape and musketry, the Americans l.'^^f"; 

rushed headlong to the assault. Arnold rode directly into _ 

a sally-port, where his horse was shot under him, and he 1777. 
himself was severely wounded — a hall had shattered his 
leg. His men now fell hack. A regiment of Massachu- 
setts men, more fortunate, forced their way through the 
German intrenchments, and maintained their position for 
the night, and secured a large amount of ammunition. 

The Americans slept on their arms, intending to renew 
the contest in the morning. But when morning came, 
Burgoyne's army, drawn up in order of battle, appeared 
on the heights in the rear. During the night, he had 
abandoned his sick and wounded, and skilfully led off his 
men. The next day he retreated to Saratoga, six miles 
distant. It was to cover this retreat that he ordered Gen- 
eral Schuyler's mansion and extensive saw mills to be 
burned. That he might continue his retreat, he sent a 
party to repair the bridges toward Fort Edward, but they 
found the way occupied by the Americans, who had taken 
nearly all the boats laden with provisions for his army. 
All the passes by which he could extricate himself werL- 
in the hands of his enemy ; cannon-balls and bullets fell 
almost every moment in his camp. He had only three 
days' provisions ; his effective force was reduced to four 
thousand men, and they were dispirited, worn out with 
hunger and fatigue. Not a word had he heard from Clin- 
ton, while the American army, already twelve thousand 
strong, was increasing daily. 

Burgoyne now called a council of war, which resolved 
to open negotiations with General Gates. Having heard 
that Clinton, a few days previous, had succeeded in taking Oct. 
two of the forts on the Hudson, and that he might possi- ^'^' 
bly reach Albany, Gates was disposed to make liberal 
terms. The conditions of the surrender were : That the 
British army should march out with the honors of war ; 
that the soldiers sliould be taken to Boston, and thence 



438 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

XXXlfl *° England ; and they were not to serve against tlie 

United States until exchanged. The number of prisoners 

1777. was about six thousand ; the arms, artillery, and military 
stores were immense. The German regiments saved their 
colors ; they took them off their staves, and concealed 
them among the baggage of the Baroness de Eiedesel.' 
The British garrison of Ticonderoga evacuated that place 
and retired to Canada. 

Congress refused to ratify the terms under which Bur- 
goyne surrendered. His soldiers, if taken to England, 
would doubtless be placed in garrison, while those thus 
relieved would be sent to reinforce Clinton at New York. 
Only Burgoyne himself, with two attendants, was per- 
mitted to iiroceed to England, while the soldiers were 
retained as prisoners. The following year they were 
marched to Charlottesville, in Virginia, where they were 
quartered in log huts, and where the greater number of 
them remained till the close of the war. 

As has been already stated, the garrisons in the High- 
lands were much weakened, by sending detachments both 
to the North and to the South. Sir Henry Clinton had 
received the long expected reinforcements from England, 
and he now proposed to force liis way up the Hudson, in 
order to unite with Burgoyne. On the day before that 
general's last battle, Clinton attacked and captured the 
0(t. Jfyj-fg Montgomery and Clinton. Though the New York 
militia turned out well, the forts could not be maintained. 
Governor George Clinton commanded. He sent to Put- 
nam for aid, which he would have received had not the 
messenger turned traitor, and deserted to the enemy. 
Under the directions of Governor Tryon, Kingston, or 
Esopus, was burned. When these marauders heard that 



' This lady accompanied her husband, Baron de Riedesel, during thia 
campaign. She ha.s left a thrilling narrative of the trying scenes at Sara- 
toga. 



SCHUYLER A MEMBER OF CONGRESS. 439 

Burgoyne had surrendered^ they retreated, setting fire to S5A?, 

every house within reach. This was about the very time . 

that Burgoyne and his army were receiving liberal terms 1777. 
of capitulation. 

General Gates, in transmitting his report of the sur- 
render, did not send it to the Commander-in-chief, as was 
his duty, and as courtesy required, but sent it directly to 
Congress. The soldiers in the army attributed the success 
of the battles at Saratoga to the skilful management of 
Arnold and Morgan. Gates did not even mention their 
names in his full dispatches to Congress. 

Soon after, General Schuyler insisted that his manage- 
ment of the Northern Department, previous to the ap- 
pointment of Gates, should be investigated. 

A Court of Inquiry was instituted, and he was not 
only acquitted of the charge of mismanagement of an)"^ 
Ifind, but with the highest honor. Though strongly urged 
by Congress to remain in the army, he declined. He had 
too much self-respect to continue in a position where he 
could be made a victim of unfriendly prejudice, yet too 
patriotic to relinquish his country's cause. Soon after he 
took his seat as a member of Congress. 



CHAPTEE XXXIV. 

WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 

Sufferings at Valley Forge. — England disappointed ; conciliatory meagures 
of Parliament. — The War presses hard upon the American People. — 
Difficulties and Jealousies in Congress. — The " Conway Cabal." — Baron 
Steuben. — Attempt to increase the Army. — Congress in Want of 
Funds. — Exchange of Lee; his Treason. — Treaty with France.^En- 
cour:\gcraents. — British Coniniissioners. — Philadelphia evacuated. — Bat- 
tle of Monmouth. — Misconduct of Lee. — The French Fleet. — Combined- 
attack upon Newport fails. — Marauding E.tpeditions. — A British Fleet. — 
Massacre at Wyoniing and Cherry Valley. — Invasion of Georgia. 

9^-^Z- The surrender of Buigoyne revived the hopes of the 

■ Whigs, and sent dismay into the ranks of the Tories. 

1778. Tjje American soldiers suffered intensely in their rude 
huts at Valley Forge. For days at a time without meat, 
and again without bread ; no medicines for the sick, nor 
comfortable lodgings. Many of the soldiers were so defi- 
cient in clothes that they could not lie down, lest they 
should freeze to death, but were forced to sit round their 
camp-fires. 

These were the men, few of whose names have ever 
reached us, but who clung to their country's cause in this 
hour of suffering, and who, in the day of battle, poured 
out their life's blood. They were, for the most part, the 
intelligent yeomanry of the land ; from the farm, from the 
workshop, from the merchant's store ; supporters of their 
own families, or sustainers of orphan brothers and sisters. 
What a contrast with the common soldiers of the invading 



THE FRIENDS OF AMERICA IN PARLIAMENT. 441 

army ! They were, in part, the enlisted rabble of the ^{^ 

British Isles. In their bosoms there was not a throb of 

generous feeling, nor with them was it a question in what 1778 
cause, or on what field they fought ; and yet in the same 
army were others, even more degraded, drawn from " the 
Bhambles of petty German despots." 

The king and ministry were sanguine their jjlans, so 
wisely laid, would be successfully carried out ; that at the 
end of the campaign the American army would be broken 
and scattered-; that they would have a line of posts ex- 
tending from Lake Champlain to the Bay of New York. 
Instead of the realization of these hopes, intelligence came 
that Burgoyne had surrendered his entire army. The 
sensation produced in England was great indeed. Kumora 
stole into the country, that France, their ancient enemy, 
was about to aid the Americans ; that Holland was about 
to loan them money. England's pride was touched. 
Should she, who had made all Europe tremble, be baffled 
in her efforts to subdue her revolted colonists ? A new 
spirit was awakened ; many of the large commercial towns 
offered to raise regiments to supply the places of those 
surrendered at Saratoga, and present them to the king. 
Yet there were others, moved by compassion, and it. may 
be by sympathy for the cause, who liberally subscribed 
money to relieve the wants of the American prisoners in 
England, whom the government had left to suffer for the. 
necessaries of life. 

These sentiments had their effect on Parliament, and 
when it assembled, the friends of America renewed their 
assaults upon the policy of the king. They, from the first, 
had opposed the war as unjust, and had opposed the en- 
listing of Hessians ; but more especially did they denounce 
the inhuman policy of employing savages to murder and 
scalp their brethren beyond the Atlantic. There were 
other causes of complaint. The merchants clamored for 



442 



HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



xmv' '"*^'^'^"*^^'^ > *^^° American trade was broken up ; debta could 

not be collected ; especially were tbey aggrieved that 

1778. the slave-trade had been reduced four-fifths. American 
cruisers had already seized nearly six hundred of their 
vessels. These cruisers swarmed to such an extent, even 
in the British seas, that it became necessary to convoy by 
armed ships merchant vessels from one port of the king- 
dom to another. More than twenty thousand men had 
perished in the war ; more than a hundred millions of 
dollars had been expended ; their expectations had been 
greatly raised, but as yet nothing was gained. 

Lord North was constrained to bring in two bills, by 
which the king hoped to reconcile his American subjects. 
On this occasion, the former declared in the House that 
he himself had always been opposed to taxing the colonies. 
The king, in truth, was the pi'ime mover and sustainer of 
the measure. One of these bills exempted the Americans 
from taxation, the other appointed commissioners to nego- 
tiate with them, for the purpose of restoring the royal 
authority. Thus was yielded, but ungraciously, the whole 
ground of the contest. 
* The moment the French government heard of the 

passage of these bills, it proposed to acknowledge the In- 
dependence of the United States, and to make with them 
a treaty offensive and defensive. That the belligerents 
should fight and weaken each other, France was willing, 
but rather than they should become reconciled, she de- 
clared for the Americans. 

Though the war had cost England much, it had cost 
the Americans more. In many portions of the country, 
their ruthless invaders had laid waste their cultivated 
fields ; in other portions they were unsown, because the 
husbandmen were in the army ; property was wasting 
away ; debts were accumulating, with no prospect of pay- 
ment. The bills of credit issued by Congress were almost 



THE EMBARRASSMENTS OF CONGRESS. 443 

worthless. As with individuals, so with the State ; both ^?^^^: 

were bankrupt. On the sea-board, foreign commerce, the 

coasting trade, and the fisheries, were carried on at such 1778. 
risks, as to be almost annihilated. Nine hundred vessels 
had fallen into the hands of the enemy. The loss of life 
had been great ; not so many had perished on the field of 
battle, but disease, the deficiency of necessary comforts in 
hospitals, the want of clothes and of wholesome food, had 
as eff'ectively done the work of death. Multitudes died 
miserabl)', either in the jails and loathsome prison-ships 
of the enemy, or contracted diseases which clung to them 
through life. These calamities, instead of depressing the 
patriots, roused their indignant spirits to more determina- 
tion. They would listen to no terms of reconciliation 
with England, short of absolute independence. 

Congress was embarrassed more and more. That no- 
ble spirit of conciliation and mutual forbearance, which 
distinguished the members of the Old Congress, was not 
so prominent. Many of the ablest members had retired 
to take part in the recently organized governments of their 
own States, or to attend to their private affairs, lest their 
families should come to want ; and some had been sent 
on foreign missions, and some were in the army. 

There were other difficulties ; jealousies between north- 
ern and southern men still existed in the army, and jeal- 
ousies between American officers and some of those of 
foreign birth. Congress, now numbering not more than 
twenty or thirty members, manifested an undue prejudice 
against the army, because the officers and soldiers earnestly 
urged that their wants should be supplied. Washington 
protested against this spirit, and showed the unreasona- 
bleness of such a prejudice. After remarking that in other 
countries the army was looked upon with susjjicion in time 
of peace, he adds : " It is our policy to be prejudiced 
against them (the troops) in time of war ; though they 



444 HISTORY OS THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, are citizens, Laving all the ties and interests of citizens." 

J '. In violation of military usage, and contrary to his advice, 

3 778. Congress made several promotions in the army, which not 

only slighted bui wronged some of its best and bravest 

officers. 

While Washington labored at Valley Forge to keep 
the army together, and to prevent its disbanding from 
sheer necessity, a few were intriguing to remove him from 
the command. Some members of Congress, a few officers, 
and jierhaps some others, joined in what was known as the 
" Conway Cabal," a name derived from the Irish adven- 
turer, 'already mentioned, who, if not the prime mover in 
the plot, was a pliant tool of others. The whole truth on 
the subject can never be fully known, as each actor ever 
after desired to conceal the part he had taken in the affair. 
By means of anonymous letters, underhand appeals, de- 
signed to seduce the officers of the army, and other dis- 
honorable measures, the attempt was made to defame 
' "Washington ; to draw invidious comparisons between his 
military successes and those of Gates ; and to destroy 
that confidence which the people and soldiers reposed in 
his integrity. They dared not attack him openly, but by 
these means they hoped to disgust him with his office, and 
induce him to resign ; and General Gates, their hero, 
would receive the appointment of Commander-in-chief. 
Thus the intrigue was carried on for months. General 
Mifflin and Gates himself were prominent in the scheme, 
but their effi)rts to win over Lafayette signally failed. 
Anonymous letters were sent to Henry Laurens, President 
of Congress, and to Patrick Henry, then Governor of Vir- 
ginia ; but these high-minded men forwarded them at 
once to the Commander-in-chief. Washington himself^ 
though he knew, to some extent, of the existence of these 
plots, never publicly noticed them, nor turned aside a mo- 
• ment from his great work. He was only anxious lest the 



THE CONWAY CABAL. 445 

enemy should learn of these dissensions. But when it ^^^.^, 

was proposed in Congress to appoint Conway inspector of , 

the army, he remonstrated, and in writing to Richard 17T8. 
Henry Lee, then a member, he says : " General Conway's 
merit as an officer, and his importance in this army, exist 
more in his own imagination than in reality." Yet Con- 
gress, under the influence of the Cabal, appointed Con- 
way " Inspector of the Armies of the United States ! " 
— with the rank of major-general. 

Ere long intelligence of these intrigues stole abroad. 
So great was the indignation which burst forth from the 
officers and soldiers, from the Legislatures of the States, 
and from the people themselves, that the Cabal cowered 
before it. 

The effect of this abortive attempt to remove Wash- 
ington from the chief command was only to strengthen his 
hold on the confidence of the nation. The invidious com- 
parisons made between his successes and those of Gates, 
were unjust, but that some persons should be influenced 
by them is not strange. " The Washington of that day 
was not Washington as we know him, tried and jDroved 
by twenty years of the most disinterested and most suc- 
cessful public services." The capture of Burgoyne at 
Saratoga was due to his plan of defence, as concerted with 
Schuyler, and not to General Gates. In his effort to save 
Philadelphia, he was surrounded with almost insurmount- 
able difficulties. His army, ill-equipped and imperfectly 
disciplined, was smaller than that of Howe's ; the scene 
of operation was in a region filled with Tories, who gave 
every fjicility to the British. He says himself : " Had the 
same spirit pervaded the people of this and the neighbor- 
ing States, as the States of New York and New England, 
we might have had General Howe nearly in the same sit- 
uation of General Burgoyne." 

We may here anticipate. Conway found his position 



446 



HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



i^P- unenviable, and he sent to Congress a note complainiug 

that he had been ill-treated, and intimated that he would 

17T8. resign because he was ordered to the Northern Depart- 
ment. His self-complacency never doubted but he would 
be urged to remain as " Inspector." But Congress, 
ashamed of having ever appointed him, interpreted it as 
a resignation, and gladly accepted it. No explanation of 
Conway, though urged in person, could induce them to 
change their decision. Some time afterward he was 
wounded in a duel with General Cadwallader, who had 
charged him with cowardice at the battle of Germantown, 
and also of derogatory remarks in relation to the Com- 
mander-in-chief. When he thought himself near death, 
Conway wrote to Washington : " You are in my eyes the 
great and good man. May you long enjoy the love, ven- 
eration, and esteem of these States, whose liberties you 
have asserted by your virtues." He recovered from his 
wound, and soon after he left the country. 

During the winter at Valley Forge, every effort was 
made to increase the army, and make it more efiScient. 
To accomplish this end. Baron Steuben, a Prussian officer 
of great merit as a disciplinarian, was appointed Inspector, 
with the rank of major-general. Congress called upon all 
the States, except Georgia and South Carolina, for their 
quotas of men to the continental army. These States 
were excused, except for local defence, in consideration of 
their large slave population. Several independent bodies 
of horse were raised by Count Pulaski and Henry Lee, 
who, because of his success and genius as a commander 
of light-horse, was known in the army as Light-Horse 
Harry. 

Baron Steuben soon infused his own spirit into the 
officers and men. He was prompt, and they obeyed liim 
with alacrity. The tactics were taught by system, and 
the result was very gratifying. Congress designed to raise 



FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. 447 

the army to sixty thoiisand, but it really never reached ^^ap. 

more than half that number. Many of the more expe- 

rienced officers were compelled by necessity to resign ; 1778 
their families were dependent upon them, and they re- 
ceived scarcely any pay. These resignations were unfor- 
tunate. Washington appealed to Congress in behalf of 
the officers, and also of the soldiers. That body promised 
half pay for seven years to those officers who should serve 
to the end of the war, and to the soldiers thus serving a 
gratuity of eighty dollars. But the treasury was empty ; 
new bills of credit were issued, and the several States were 
called upon to levy taxes for the public expenses ; but 
the States were poor, and some of them were negligent. 
Their bills of credit continued to lose their value ; and to 
increase the evil, the British and Tories flooded the coun- 
try with counterfeits. The depreciation became so great, 
that a pair of boots cost more than seven hundred dollars in 
some of these bills of credit. Yet it shows the patriotism 
of the great mass of the people, that at this time of despond- 
ency and distress, the British, with their promises of gold 
and protection, coidd induce only three thousand five hun- 
dred Tories to enlist in their army. 

The office of quartermaster had been held during the 
last campaign by Mifflin ; but he was seldom at his post, 
and the department was in great confusion. Many diffi- 
culties had grown out of this neglect ; the army was irreg- 
ularly supplied with provisions and forage, while the 
country people suffered much on account of the demands 
made upon them for provisions by unauthorized foraging 
parties. At the urgent request of Washington, Congress 
appointed General Greene quartermaster. He assumed 
the duties of the office, so irksome to him, for one year, 
but without compensation. The system with which 
Greene performed all his duties was soon apparent ; the 
army was regularly furnished with provisions and ammu- 



448 ■ HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^HAP. nition, so tnat it could be ready to march at a few miu- 

utes' notice. 

1TT8. 

General Lee was returned to the army in exchange for 
■ '"' General Prescott. Lee was as selfish as he was destitute 
of the true nobleness of a man of honor. In a document 
in his own handwriting, written when a prisoner in New 
York, dated " March 29, 1777," and endorsed by Lord 
and Sir William Howe as " Mr. Lee's plan," may be found 
the evidence of his wiUingness to ruin the cause of Ameri- 
can Independence. In this elaborate plan, he urged with 
great earnestness upon the British ministry to send a 
large force ; part of which to take position at Alexandria, 
on the Potomac, and part at Aimapolis, on the Chesa- 
peake. Thus to separate the Northern and Southern colo- 
nies, and prevent them from aiding each other, while to 
oppose Burgoyne's advance would require all the force 
that New England could raise. He was willing to forteit 
his life, if the measure did not speedily terminate the war 
and dissolve the " Congress Government." 

For some reason the ministry did not adopt Lee's sug- 
gestion, and the document was filed away among British 
state papers, to bear testimony to the dishonesty of the 
author three-quarters of a century after his death.' 

In the Spring, Sir William Howe, after complaining 
that his government did not furnish him a sufficiency of 
men and supplies, resigned his command, and Sir Henry 
Clinton was appointed his successor. With the exception 
of foraging parties, the British, as yet, made no military 
^>^y movements. About tliis time came intelligence of the 
passage of Lord North's conciliatory bills, and that the 
commissioners would soon be on their" way to open nego- 
tiations. The substance of these bills was circulated very 
extensively by zealous Tories. Congress ordered them to 

' " Treason of General Charles Lee," by George H. Moore. Ksq., 



TREATY WITH FRANCE BRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 449 

be printed in the newspapers, accompanied by a severe ^^jy 
criticism, furnished by a committee of the House. 

Presently came the news that France had acknow- lf78. 
ledged the independence of the States, and had entered 30.' 
into a treaty with them of commerce and defence. The 
light had dawned upon the American cause ! A thrill of 
joy went throughout the land. 

The treaty between the United States and France May 
produced a great sensation in England. It is madness to 
protract the war ! said the friends of America. Let us 
acknowledge the independence of the States, and obtain 
their good will by liberal terms of commerce, lest our great 
rival win them to herself But no ! the idea was scouted ; 
the war must be prosecuted, blood must still flow. 

In June came the commissioners to treat under Lord 
North's conciliatory bills. They were the Earl of Carlisle, 
William Eden, brother of the late governor of Maryland, 
and George Johnstone, formerly governor of Florida, and 
who had been a friend of the Americans in Parliament. 

The commissioners sent their proposals to Congress, 
but that body refused to treat, until the independence of 
the States was acknowledged, and the British troops with- 
drawn. As the commissioners could not grant these de- 
mands, negotiations were not commenced. Some of the 
commissioners indirectly resorted to bribery, and by means 
of a loyalist lady of Philadelphia, made projjositions to 
General Joseph Reed, of ten thousand pounds, and any 
office in the colonies he might choose, if he would aid the 
object of the mission. To which offer he made this mem- 
orable reply : " I am not worth purchasing, but such as I 
am, the king of England is not rich enough to buy me." 

When it was known that a French fleet was expected 
on the coast, the British hastened to evacuate Philadel- 
phia, and retreat to New York. Most of the stores, to- is. 
gather with the sick and wounded, were sent round by 
29 



•lijO HISTORY OF THE AMERICAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP, water, while the army, twelve thousand strong, took u]) 

its line of march across New Jersey. Washington was 

1778. soon in pursuit. The weather was excessively warm, and 
the heavily armed British moved very slowly. The Ameri- 
cans soon came up. A council of war was held, and the 
question discussed, whether to attack the enemy and 
bring on a general engagement, or merely harass tliem on 
their march. Washington, with Greene and Lafayette, 
was in favor of the former manner of attack, and Lee, 
for some reason, strenuously advocated the latter. When 
it was decided to bring on a general engagement, Lee, as 
his advice had not been taken, declined to take any com- 
mand in the affair. 

Washington therefore sent Lafayette forward with two 
thousand men, to take jjosition on the hills, and thus 
crowd Sir Henry Clinton off into the plain. The next 
morning Lee had changed his mind, and asked to be given 
a command. Washington sent him forward with two 
brigades, and when he came up with Lafayette, being of 
superior rank, he assumed the command of the entire ad- 
vance division. 

The British encamped near Monmouth Court-house. 
There were morasses and groves of woods in the vicinity, 
a difficult place in which to manoeuvre troops, 
i'""" When Lee advanced, he found a force of apparently 

about two thousand on the march, but a portion of the 
woods obstructed a full view. He made his arrangements 
to cut off this force, and sent word of his movements to 
Washington. But when he came u])on the division, he 
foimd it much stronger than he anticipated — in truth, 
Clinton had thrown this strong force of German and Brit- 
ish there, for the express purpose of giving the Americans 
a severe check. 

The battle had scarcely begun, before occurred a misap- 
prehension of orders. The Americans began to retreat, and 
Lee, in the hurry of the moment, forgot to send word of 



28. 



BATTLE OF MONMOUTH. 451 

tlie movemeat to Washington, who was advancing with 59j,y 

the main body to his support. The retreat had passed 

into almost a flight. When Washington met the troops 1778. 
he inquired why they were retreating. The reply was, 
they did not know, but they had received the order. Sus- 
pecting that this movement was designed to mar the plan 
of attack, he spurred on, and presently met Lee, of whom 
he demanded, in a stern manner : " What is the meaning 
of all this, sir ?" Lee, disconcerted, hesitated for a mo- 
ment to reply, and was asked again. He then began to 
explain, that the confusion had arisen from disobedience 
of orders ; and, moreover, he did not wish to meet the 
whole British army. Washington rejoined, " that he un- 
derstood it was a mere covering party," adding : " I am 
very sorry that you undertook the command unless you 
meant to fight the enemy." Lee replied, that he did not 
think it prudent to bring on a general engagement. 
" Whatever your opinion may have been," replied Wash- 
ington, disdainfully, " I expect my orders to be obeyed." 
This conversation took but a moment. 

Washington hastily formed the men on a rising ground. 
The enemy came up in force, and other divisions of the 
Americans also mingled in the conflict. Night ended the 
battle. The Americans slept upon their arms, expecting 
to renew the contest in the morning. But Clinton skil- 
fully drew off his army during the night, and at daylight 
was far on his way. Washiugton did not attempt to pur- 
sue, as the weather was intolerably warm, and the march 
through a sandy region, destitute of water. The Ameri- 
cans lost altogether about two hundred, many of them on 
account of the extreme heat : the British about three 
hundred in the battle, and on the march two thousand 
Hessians deserted. 

After refreshing his men, Washington marched across 
New Jersey, passed the Hudson, and took position at White 
Plains, (o be ready to co-operate with the French fleet 



452 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, in an attack upon New York. Lord Howe liad scarcely 

left the Delaware when Count D'Estaing appeared with a 

1778 squadron. While at sea, D'Estaing communicated with 
Washington by letter. Finding that the British had 
evacuated Philadelphia, he put to sea, and soon anchored 
off Sandy Hook. 

The day after the battle, Lee wrote a note, disre- 
spectful in. its tone, to Washington, who replied ; and this 
produced another note from Lee, still more offensive, de- 
manding a court of inquiry, and in the mean time inti- 
mating that he should retire from the army. The court 
found him guilty of disobedience of orders and disrespect 
to the Commander-in-chief, and sentenced him to be sus- 
pended for one year from the army. He retired to his 
estate in Virginia, and there beguiled his leisure in writing 
scurrilous letters concerning the army and its commander. 
When his sentence of suspension was about to expire, he, 
for some fancied neglect, wrote an insolent letter to Con- 
gress. That body immediately dismissed him from the 
army. Thus ended the military career of Geneial Charles 
Lee. A few years afterward he died in Philadelphia. His 
life had been that of the soldier ; and in the delirium of 
death he murmured, " Stand by me, my brave grena- 
diers ! " 

The French fleet brought Monsieur Gerard as ambas- 
sador to the United States, and also Silas Deane, Doctor 
Franklin, and Arthur Lee, with whom, on the part of the 
United States, the treaty had been made. 

Howe ran his ships within the bay of New York, and 
as the large vessels of the French could not pass the bar 
at Sandy Hook, the combined attack upon the city was 
abandoned. Instead, it was resolved to make an attack 
upon Newport, on the island of Rhode Island. This was 
a British stronghold and depot, and garrisoned by six 
thousand men, under General Pigot. The brutality of 
these British troops had excited against them the bitterest 



THE FAILURE AT NEWPORT. 453 

hatred, and when called uiDon by General Sullivan, who ™^,^: 

was in command, thousands of the militia of the surround- 

iug country flocked to avenge their wrongs. John Han- 117^. 
cock, on this occasion, led the Massachusetts militia, as 
general. D'Estaing sailed to Newport, where he arrived a 
week before the force sent by Washington under Greene 
and Lafayette, This unavoidable delay ruined the enter- 
prise. When the Americans appeared, the British guard 
left the works on the north end of the island, and retired 
to their inner lines. The Americans immediately passed ^"S- 
over and occupied the abandoned works. The very day 
of this occupancy, Lord Howe appeared with a fleet, and 
D'Estaing went out to give him battle. They both ma- 
noeuvred their fleets to obtain the advantage of position, 
when a terrible storm arose and separated them. 12. 

In the mean time, the Americans moved near the ene- 
my's works, and commenced to cannonade them, expect- 
ing that the French fleet would soon return to their aid. 
D'Estaing did return, but instead of landing the four -" 
thousand troops on board, he set sail for Boston to refit 
his vessels, which the late storm had shattered. 

The Americans now abandoned their lines, and by 
night retreated, repulsing the division of the enemy sent 
in pursuit. It was time, for the British were strongly 
reinforced from New York by four thousand troops, under 
Clinton himself. 

To deceive the enemy, and escape safely from the 
island, Sullivan sent a party to occupy a hill in sight of 
the British lines. The party began to throw up intrench- 
ments, and in the evening pitched their tents ; but as 
soon as it was night, they silently decamped, and in the 
morning were all safely on the main land. 

A great clamor arose because D'Estaing failed to co- 
operate with the Americans at Newport. Subsequent 
investigation seemed to justify him ; at least. Congress 
passed a resolution approving his conduct. This may, 



454 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, however, have oeen mere policy, as Congress was uuwil- 

ling to offend the French by passing a vote of censure. 

1778. The war degenerated into marauding expeditions 

against defenceless villages. The first object of this bar- 
barity was the island of Martha's Vineyard, whose inhabi- 
tants were stripped of every thing the robbers could carry 
off. The towns of New Bedford and Fair Haven were 

Sept. wantonly burned, and also seventy vessels in their ports. 
Scenes of cruelty were enacted in New Jersey, where an 

Oct. American regiment of horse was cut to pieces, and a com- 
pany of infantry, when crying for quarter, was butchered 
with the bayonet without mercy. 

When it was certainly known that a French fleet had 
sailed to the United States, the English ministry sent 
Admiral Byron in pursuit. He appeared off Boston har- 
bor while the French were refitting, but did not dare at- 
tack them, and the French were unwilliug to come out of 
their place of security. Lord Howe resigned his command 
into the hands of Admiral Byron. At length a storm 
arose which scattered the English fleet ; then the French 

N"v. slipped out of the harbor, and sailed to the West Indies. 
On the same day, five thousand British troops sailed from 
New York for the same destination. Three weeks after, 
another expedition of three thousand sailed for Georgia ; 
yet the British army remaining was far more numerous 
than the forces under Washington. 

During the summer, one of the most atrocious outra- 
ges which disgraced the war, was committed upon the 
settlement of Wyoming, situated in a beautiful valley on 
the Susquehanna. There had been previously much con- 
tention among the inhabitants, some of whom were Tories. 
These had been seized, and sent out of the settlement ; 
July, they took their revenge with more than savage ferocity 
After the defeat of St. Leger at Fort Schuyler, Fort 
Niagara became the head-quarters of Tories and Indians ; 



DESTRUCTION OF WYOMING. 45S 

at that place was planned the murderous expedition, ^^j^ 

The party was guided by Tories who had lived in the val- 

loy. The chief leader in this expedition was John Butler, 1778. 
a Tory notorious for his cruelty. His force, about eleven 
hundred, was composed of his Eangers, Johnson's Greens, 
and Mohawks. There were block-houses in the settle- 
ment ; to these the people fled in times of danger. Nearly 
all the able-bodied men were absent in the army under 
Washington. There were left only the women and chil- 
dren, the aged and infirm. Suddenly the savage enemy 
appeared at various points in the valley, and commenced 
murdering the husbandmen in the fields, and burning the 
houses. It had been rumored that such an attack was 
meditated, and a small force had already been dispatched 
by Washington to defend the settlement. They had 
themselves, under Zebulon Butler, (no relation of John 
Butler), about three hundred and fifty men. Unfortunate- 
ly, Butler did not wait the arrival of the reinforcement, 
but sallied forth to restrain the ravaging of the country. 
Intelligence of this intended attack was conveyed to the en- 
emy, and they were fully prepared. The fight began, and 
the Tories were forced to give way, but the Indians passed 
round a swamp toward the rear. Butler, seeing this move- 
ment, ordered his men to fall back, lest they should be 
surrounded. This order was mistaken for one to retreat ; 
all was thrown into confusion, and a portion, panic-strick- 
en, fled. They were pursued by the Tories and Indians 
with unrelenting fury. The whole valley was desolated. 
Those of the people who escaped, fled to the mountains, 
and there women and children perished by hundreds, 
while some, after incredible sufferings, reached the settle- 
ments. 

A month later, similar scenes were witnessed at Cherry 
Valley, in New York. The Tories and Indians were 
equally as cruel as at the Wyoming massacre. The peo- Aug. 
pie were either murdered or carried into captivity. All 



456 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^^P- the region of the upper Susquehauna, the Delaware, and 

the Mohawk, was at the mercy of the savages. 

1778. Ij2 i\^Q latter part of November, Clinton sent Colonel 

Campbell, with two thousand men, to invade Georgia. 
He landed three miles below Savannah, the capital, on the 
twenty-ninth of December. 

General Robert Howe, who was in command, could 
make but little resistance. He and his men behaved no- 
bly, but a negro guiding the British by a path through a 
swamp, they gained the rear of the Americans, wlio were 
now thrown into confusion and defeated. The town of 
Savannah fell into the hands of the victors. 

General Prevost, who commanded in East Florida, 
was ordered by Clinton to pass across to Savannah, and 
there join Campbell and assume the command. On his 
march, Prevost took Sunbury, a fort of some importance. 
Arriving at Savannah, he sent Campbell to take possession 
of Augusta. Thus was Georgia subdued, in the space of 
a few weeks. The British now transferred their active 
operations to the South, which became the principal thea- 
tre of the war till its close. 

General Benjamin Lincoln, who had been appointed 
to take command of the Southern Department, arrived 
about this time. The delegates from South Carolina and 
Georgia had solicited his appointment. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 

Dissensions in Congress. — Expedition against the Indians. — The War in the 
South. — Augusta reoceupied. — Charleston threatened. — Marauding Ex- 
peditions sent to Virginia, and up the Hudson. — Tryon ravages Con- 
necticut. — Capture of Stony Point by Wayne. — Lee surprises the Gar- 
rison at Jersey City. — Combined assault upon Savannah. — -Daniel 
Boone; Kentucky. — George Rogers Clarke; Kaskaskia. — Pioneers of 
Tennessee ; Nashville. — John Paul Jones. 

The American arm}'- was distributed, at the end of the (.g^p 
year, in a series of cantonments, which extended from the xxxv 
east end of Long Island Sound to the Delaware ; thus ,,,„„ 
effectually enclosing the British forces. The head-quarters 
were in a central position at Middlebrook, New Jersey. 
The British were so strong at New York and Newport, 
that to attack them with success was hopeless. The 
French fleet had been of no practical use to the Ameri- 
cans, and now Count D'Estaing took with him his land 
troops to the West Indies. 

Four years had passed since the war commenced ; the 
finances of the country were still in a wretched condition. 
The enemy held important places, and were watching for 
opportunities to pillage. In the South, the Tories were 
specially active. Yet there were other elements at work, 
more injurious to the cause than even these. 

Congress was filled with dissensions. The prospect 



458 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

^\y of assistance from France caused many to relax theii 

efforts, as though the war was virtually ended. Wash- 

1779. ington wrote, at the beeianin": of the year : " Our affairs 



^B 



are in a more distressed, ruinous, and dej)lorable condition 
than they have been since the commencement of the war." 
A large majority of Congress was carried away with the 
scheme of joining with the French in an expedition against 
Canada. But when the matter was laid before the Com- 
mander-in-chief, at a glance he saw the difficulties of the 
undertaking, and, with the comprehensive views of the 
true statesman, pointed out the disadvantages of having, 
on this continent, a power different in nation, in religion, 
and in customs from the Americans. Moreover, he desired 
the people of tlie United States to be as little under obli- 
gations as possible to other nations. 

For the ensuing campaign, it was evident the British 
intended to confine themselves to pillaging expeditions, 
and to cripple the Union in the South. Washington now 
recommended an expedition against the Indians, to punish 
them for their outrages at Wyoming and other places. It 
was to be conducted on their own plan — to invade and 
lay waste their territory. 

In April a body of troops suddenly invaded and deso- 
lated the territory of the Onondagas. The principal ex- 
pedition, under Sullivan, went against the Senecas, to 
revenge their attack on Wyoming. With five thousand 
men he penetrated their country, met them under Brant, 
with their worthy allies, the Tories, Johnson and Butler, 
at Newtown, now Elmira, and completely routed them. 
an' Without giving them time to recover from their panic, 
SuUis'an pursued them into the valley of the Genesee, and 
in a few weeks destroyed more than forty of their villages, 
all their cornfields, gardens, and orchards. It was a ter- 
rible vengeance ; but the only means to prevent ihoir 
depredations on the settlements. 



CHARLESTON THREATENED. 459 

Want of food compelled the Indians and Tories to chap 

emigrate to Canada, yet they soon after renewed their . 

depredations, and continued them, with their usual fero- 1770 
city, till the end of the war. In the mean while, another 
successful expedition was conducted against the Indian 
tov^ns on the Alleghany, above Pittsburg. 

As in the North, so in the South, the British entered 
into alliances with the Indians — there they induced the 
Creeks to join them. The Tories desolated the upper part 
of Georgia ; but as they drew near Augusta, Colonel 
Pickens suddenly attacked and routed them. Seventy- 
five were made prisoners and condemned to death, as trai- 
tors ; however, only five were executed. Feb. 

The next month, General Lincoln sent General Ashe, 
viith two thousand nien, to drive Campbell from Augusta. 
Campbell, hearing of his approach, retreated in haste, and 
Ashe pursued, but was himself surprised, some days after, 
and his entire force dispersed. The British now reocciipied 
Augusta, and opened a communication with the Chero- 
kees and the South Carolina Tories. 

While Lincoln recruited his army, Prevost marched 
slowly in the direction of Charleston ; and Lincoln has- 
tened to the aid of that city. The inhabitants were 
indefatigable in their exertions to give the foe a warm 
reception. They threw up intrenchments across the neck Uay 
of the peninsula, on which their city stood. Presently, 
Prevost arrived and summoned them to surrender, but 
they boldly refused. 

He prepared to enter upon a regular siege, but hearing 
of the' approach of Lincoln, he first ravaged the planta- 
tions in the vicinity, carried off an immense amount of 
plunder, and three or four thousand slaves, and then re- 
treated toward Savannah, by way of the islands along the 
coast. As the hot season apjiroached, hostilities ceased. Juni^ 

While these events were in progress in the South, 
Clinton was fulfilling his instructions from the ministry to 



460 HISTORT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^HAP. send out plundering expeditions. One of these, under 

General Mathews, he sent from New York, with twenty- 

1779. five hundred men, into Virginia. The fleet entered the 
^^ Chesapeake, the troops landed, and plundered the towns 
of Portsmouth and Norfolk. A little higher up, at Gos- 
port, was established a navy-yard by the State ; there 
they burned one hundred and thirty merchant ships, and 
several war-vessels on the stocks. The facilities afforded 
the enemy by the rivers to pass from point to point, and 
the danger of the slaves rising, prevented much resistance. 

When these soldiers returned, Clinton went up the 
Hudson, against the posts Verplanck's and Stony Points. 
These forts protected King's Ferry, a verj- important 
crossing-place, on the main road from the eastern to the 
middle States. The works at Stony Point— not yet fin- 
ished — were abandoned ; and the garrison at Verjilanckr's 
Point were forced to surrender. 

The next expedition, of twenty-five hundred men, was 
under Tryon, whose barbarities, on such occasions, have 
justly rendered his name infamous. Tryon plundered 
New Haven, and burned Fairfield and Norwalk. In the 
Jill J course of a few days, he burned two hundred and twenty- 
five private dwellings, half as many barns and stores, and 
five places of worship. Many of the inhabitants were 
murdered, or subjected to the brutal passions of the sol- 
diers. This "journeyman of desolation," so insensible to 
the promptings of humanity, contemplated these outrages 
with pleasure, and afterward even claimed for himself the 
honor of having exercised mercy, because he did not burn 
every dwelling on the coast of New England. 

Clinton had been grossly deceived by the Tories, who 
assured him that the principal inhabitants of Connecticut 
were so ranch dissatisfied because their homes were not 
protected by the American army, that they were about to 
withdraw from the cause, and put themselves under Brit- 



4. 



CAPTURE OF STONY POINT. 461 

ish protection. And it was thought a few more sncli ^^y- 
expeditions would accomplish this result. 

Washington now devised a plan to recapture Stony 1779. 
Point. The fort was so situated, that to surprise it seemed 
an impossibility. He proposed to General Wayne — " Mad 
Anthony" — to undertake the desperate enterprise. The 
proposal was accepted with delight. Washington himself, 
accompanied by Wayne, carefully reconnoitred the Point. 
The attempt was to be made at the hour of midnight. 
Every precaution to secure success was taken, even the 
dogs of the neighborhood were privately destroyed. A 
negro, who was in the habit of visiting the fort to sell 
fruit, and also as a spy for the Americans, was to act as 
guide. July 

The men, with fixed bayonets, and, to remove the pos- ^''• 
sibility of discovery, with unloaded muskets, approached 
in two divisions, at the appointed hour. The negro, 
accompanied by two soldiers, disguised as farmers, ap- 
proached the outer sentinel, and gave the countersign. 
The sentinel -was seized and gagged, and the second 
treated in the same manner ; at the third, the alarm was 
given, but the impetuosity of the Americans was so great, 
that in a few minutes the two divisions from the opposite 
sides of the fort met in the centre. They took more than 
five hundred prisoners. This was one of the most brilliant 
exploits of the war. How great was the contrast between 
the humanity of Wayne and the savage cruelty of the 
British in their midnight attacks with the bayonet ! Sted- 
man, the British historian, records that " the conduct of 
the Americans upon this occasion was highly meritorious, 
for they would have been fully justified in putting the 
garrison to the sword ; not one man of which was put to 
death but in fair combat." When Clinton heard of the 
taking of Stony Point, he hastily recalled Tryon, who was 
about to move against New London. 

The exploit of Wayne was speedily followed by another 



462 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLr. 

CHAP, daring adventure by Light Horse Harry. He had learned 

by reconnoitring, and by means of sjjies, the exact condi- 

1779. tion of the garrison at Paukis Hook, now Jersey City, 
opposite New York. Thinking themselves secure from 
attack, because of their nearness to the main army, the 
officers, as well as men, were careless. Lee asked permis- 
^"P- sion to strike a blow within " cannon-shot of New York." 
Washington directed him " to surprise the -fort, bring off 
the garrison immediately, and effect a retreat," and not 
to linger, lest he should himself be overpowered. About 
two o'clock in the morning they made themselves masters 
of the fort, and secured one hundred and fifty prisoners, 
with a loss to themselves of only two men. Soon alarm 
guns roused the garrison in New York, and Lee com- 
menced his retreat. The exploit redounded much to his 
credit, and that of his company of horse. In compliment, 
Congress voted Wayne, as well as Lee, a gold medal. 

An effort was again made to take Savannah. Count 
D'Estaing appeared with his fleet from the West Indies, 
and General Lincoln marched to aid in the siege. Several 
North Carolina regiments had been sent by the Com- 
mander-in-chief, and the militia, turned out well. Prevost 
made every exertion to defend himself But D'Estaing 
soon grew impatient ; he must return to the West Indies 
lest the British fleet might accomplish some enterprise of 
importance. The siege must be either abandoned, or the 
Qpt, town taken by assault. The latter was resolved upon ; 
9- and it was undertaken with great disadvantages staring 
the assailants in the face. After they had carried some 
of the outworks, the Americans were forced to retire. 
Count Pulaski, when gallantly leading his men, was mor- 
tally wounded. The French, who were at the post of the 
greatest danger, were also repulsed, and D'Estaing him- 
self was wounded. Lincoln now retreated to Ciiarloston. 
disbanded the militia, and the Count sailed to the West 
Indies. Thus, for the second time, the French, under the 



EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH — DANIEL BOONE. 463 

same officer, failed to co-operate efficiently with the chap. 

Americans. Very great dissatisfaction was excited at this 

throughout the country. l''^''^^- 

Clinton obeyed his instructions from home, evacuated 
Newport, and concentrated his main force at New York, 
which place he thought in danger of a combined attach 
from the Americans and French. In truth, Washington, 
in expectation of such aid, had called out the militia for 
that purpose, but when he heard that the French had 
sailed for the West Indies, he dismissed them, and went 
into winter-quarters near Morristown, New Jersey. 25. 

When the coast was clear, Clinton sent seven thou- 
sand men by sea to Savannah, and soon after sailed him- 
self with two thousand more, leaving a powerful garrison 
in New York, under the command of Knyphausen. 



Dec. 
29. 



Some years before the commencement of the war, 
Daniel Boone, the bold hunter and pioneer, had visited 
the region of Kentucky. Attracted by the fertility of the 
soil, the beauty of the forests, and the mildness of the 
climate, in connection with others, he formed a settlement 
on the Kentucky river. Thither Boone took his wife and 
daughters, the first white women in that region. There, ^'^'^• 
during the war, these bold pioneers were in perils, fighting 
the Indians and levelling the forests. Hariod, another bold 
backwoodsman, founded Harrodsburg. The territory on 
the lower Kentucky, had been purchased of the Cherokees. 
Though Dunmore, the governor of Virginia, denounced 
the purchase as illegal, yet in spite of his proclamation, 
and the hostility of the Indians, the people, in numbers, 
emigrated to that delightful region. 

The Indians at the West were becoming hostile under 
the influence of British emissaries. The principal actor 
in tliis was Hamilton, the commandant at Detroit, against 
which place Congress resolved to send an expedition. 



464 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

V vvy While this was under consideration, George Eogers Clarke, 

an adventurous Virginian, set out from Pittsburg on an 

1779. expedition against Kaskaskia, an old French town on the 
Mississippi. Clarke, though a backwoodsman of Ken- 
tucky, acted under the authority of Virginia. With two 
hundred men he floated in boats down the Ohio to the 
Falls, and there, on an island, thirteen families, his follow- 
ers, made a settlement. Joined by some Kentuckians, he 
proceeded down the river, to near its mouth. Then hiding 
his canoes, the company struck through the woods to Kas- 
kaskia. This town was claimed by the English since the 
surrender of Canada. The inhabitants were at once con- 
ciliated, when they heard of the alliance between the 
United States and France, and when they saw their relig- 
1778. ion respected and their property protected. Clarke also 
" ^' entered into friendly relations with the Spaniards west of 
the Mississippi, at St. Louis. When he returned to the 
Falls, he built a stockade fort on the south side of the 
Ohio ; this was the germ of the present city of Louisville. 
Virginia claimed the region north of the Ohio, as con- 
quered territory, erected it into the county of Illinois, and 
made arrangements to keep possession of it. 

Other bold pioneers were, about the same time, pene- 
trating the wilderness further south. James Kobertson, 
from North Carolina, who, eleven years before, led emi- 
grants to settle on the head-waters of the Tennessee, now. 
May. with a company, crossed over into the valley of the Cum- 
berland. They passed down that river till they found a 
desirable location, a bluff on its south shore. The com- 
pany altogether amounted to nearly fifty persons. There, 
in the midst of the primeval forest, more than a hundred 
miles from the nearest settlement, they cleared some land 
and planted corn. Three of their number remained to 
guard the growing crop, and the others returned to bring 
their families. Emigration now began : one party set out 
through the wilderuess, driving their cattle before them ; 



NASHVILLE JOHN PAUL JONES. 4fi5 

another, with the women and children, went on board of £^'^|'' 

boats, on the head-waters of the Tennessee. They were 

to pass down that river to its mouth, thence find their 1779. 
way up the Cumberland to the chosen spot. A laborious 
journey of more than six months brought them to their 
anxious friends. The settlement increased with great 
rapidity, notwithstanding the hostility of the Indians. 
Such were the beginnings of the now prosperous and 
beautiful city of Nashville. 

Congress, from time to time, made efforts to increase 
the continental navy, but many of the vessels had been 
lost. The privateers had aroused the ire and the vigilance 
of the entire British navy. Yet some American cruisers, 
fitted out in France, fearlessly sailed in quest of the enemy. 
The most distingtKshed of these commanders was John 
Paul Jones, a native of Scotland, but who had been 
brought to Virginia in childhood. He was one of the first 
officers commissioned by Congress for the navy. Jones, in 
command of the Ranger, of eighteen guns, spread terror 
around England, and even made a descent on the coast of 
Scotland. 

A small squadron of five French and American ships 
was fitted out at L'Orient, and placed under liis com- 
mand, to cruise in the British seas. Off the coast of 
Scotland, he met with a fleet of merchantmen, convoyed 
by a frigate and another armed vessel. It was night, and g^p^ 
the battle, the most desperate in the annals of naval war- 2!i 
fare, lasted three hours. Jones lashed his flag-ship, the 
Richard, to the British frigate Serapis, and thus, muzzle 
to muzzle, they poured into each other their broadsides. 
At length, both the English ships surrendered. Jones' 
flag-ship was so damaged, that in a few hours it went to 
the bottom. 



30 



CHAPTEE XXXVI. 

WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 

Hardships of the Soldiers. — British Success at the South. — Colonel Tarle- 
ton. — Charleston capitulates. — Defeat at Waxhaws. — Rev. James Cald- 
well. — Maraud into Jersey. — Fleet at Newport. — The South unsubdued ; 
her partisan Leaders.. — Gates sent to take Command. — Disastrous Bat- 
tle of Camden. — Death of De Kalb. — Sumter's Success and Defeat. — 
Treason of Arnold. — Major Andre. ^ — Movements of Cornwallis. — Colonel 
Ferguson. — Battle of King's Mountain. — Tatleton repulsed. — General 
Greene in Command. — Rancorous Spirit between the Whigs and To- 
ries. — British triumphant. — Affairs in Europe. — Henry Laurens. — Dan- 
gers of England ; her Energy. 

CHAP. This winter, like the precedincr, witnessed the hardships 

'_ of the soldiers, who were often in great straits for pro- 

1780. visions, and other necessaries. The depreciation of the 
currency continued ; Congress was in debt, without money 
and without credit. To preserve the soldiers from starva- 
tion, Washington was under, to him, the painful necessity 
of levying contributions upon the people of the surround- 
ing country. Jersey was drained almost to exhaustion ; 
but her patriotism rose in proportion to her sacrifices ; at 
one time, when deep snows cut off supplies from a dis- 
tance, the subsistence of the whole army devolved upon 
her. " The women met together to knit and sew for the 
soldiery," and the farmers hastened to the camp with 
provisions, " stockings, shoes, coats, and blankets." 

A committee sent by Congress to inquire into the con- 
May, dition of affairs at Morristown, reported : " That the army 
was five months unpaid ; that it seldom had more than 



BRITISH SUCCESS IN THE SOUTH. 467 

six days' provisions in advance, and was, on several occa- ^^^^- 

sions, for sundry successive days, without meat ; was des- 

titute of forage : that the medical department had neither 1780. 
sugar, tea, chocolate, wine, nor spirits." No other prin- 
ciple than true patriotism could have held men together 
in the midst of privations and sufferings such as these. 
In preparation for the ensuing campaign, Congress made 
great exertions to increase the army ; large bounties were 
offered, yet recruits came in slowly. 

The winter was exceedingly severe. The waters around 
New York were frozen, communication with the sea was 
cut off, so that the garrison and the citizens suffered for 
provisions. Knyphausen was alarmed lest the Americans 
should pass on the ice and attack the city ; his ships of 
war were frozen fast, and no longer useful to defend it. 
He transferred the seamen to the shore, and formed them 
into companies, and placed the entire male population 
under arms. But his apprehensions were groundless, as 
Washington was too deficient in men and means to make 
a successful attack upon the garrison. 

Id the South, the British were very successful. When 
Clinton arrived at Savannah, he immediately went North 
for the purpose of blockading Charleston. General Lin- j^^^ 
coin made every exertion to fortify the city. Four thou- 
sand of its militia enrolled themselves ; but the assistance 
received from the surrounding country numbered only two 
hundred men. South Carolina had represented to Con- 
gress her utter inability to defend herself, " by reason of 
the great number of citizens necessary to remain at home 
to prevent insurrection among the negroes, and their de- 
sertion to the enemy." The only hope of Charleston lay 
in the regiments then on their march from Virginia and 
North Carolina. These regiments increased Lincoln's 



468 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN' PEOPLE. 

\xxvi ^^^^^ *° seven thousand, only two thousand of whom were 

continentals. 

1780. The British occupied so much time in their approach, 

that an opportunity was given to fortify the harbor and 
city. It was of no avail ; the superior English fleet passed 
by Fort Moultrie without receiving much damage, though 
lour years before the same fort had repulsed a similar at- 
tempt. The channel, at this time, was deeper, and tlie 
vessels could pass. 

Sir Henry Clinton had lost nearly all his horses on the 
voyage ; but he had with him Lieutenant-colonel Ban- 
astre Tarleton, a native of Liverpool. Let us take a 
glance at the colonel, who figures so largely ip these south- 
ern campaigns. He was at this time only twenty-six 
years of age. He is described as short of stature, broad 
shouldered and muscular, of swarthy complexion, with a 
countenance lighted up by small, keen black eyes, the 
embodiment of ardent, prompt energy, and indomitable 
perseverance, that never pursued without overtaking ; 
always in front of his men ; as insensible to weariness as he 
was to fear. To be scrupulous was not one of his virtues. 
He soon, from friends or enemies, by money or by force, 
obtained horses for his dragoons. 
\pril Thirty miles from Charleston, at Monk's Corner, Gen- 

eral Huger and Colonel William Washington had two 
regiments of continental cavalry to guard the passes to 
the north country. On a dark night, Tarleton, guided by 
a negro, pounced upon them with his dragoons, and scat- 
tered them. Huger and Washington escaped, with some 
of their officers and men, but Tarleton took a hundred 
prisoners, and four hundred wagons laden with stores. 
Fort Moultrie surrendered, and soon after another division 
of American cavalry was almost annihilated by Tarleton, 
and Charleston was now completely invested. 

As the defences of the town continued to fail in suc- 
cession, Lincoln thought to abandon the place, and force 



CHARLESTON CAPITULATES. 469 

his wa,y through the enemy ; but the superiority of the ^\^^l'' 

besiegers in number and position rendered that impossible. _ 

The British fleet was ready to pour ruin upon the devoted iTn'.'. 
town. Clinton had thrown uj) iutrenchments across the 
neck, and at this crisis Cornwallis arrived from New York 
with three thousand fresh troops. . •^IJj''" 

On the ninth of May commenced a terrible cannonade 
from two hundred cannons. All night long bombshc^Us 
poured upon the town, which at one time was on fire in 
five different places. The morning dawned, but no hope 
dawned for the besieged. Their guns were nearly all dis- 
mounted, their works in ruins, the soldiers exhausted by 
fatigue. The fleet moved to a position much nearer. The 
following night an ofi'er to capitulate was sent to Clinton. 
Negotiations commenced, which resulted in the surrender 
of the garrison as prisoners ol' war ; the militia were to 
be dismissed on their parole, not to engage again in the 
war ; with the promise, that so long' as they kept their 
parole, their persons and property should be secure. The 
whole number of prisoners was about six thousand. Mav 

This was an irreparable loss to the patriots. Immedi- 
ately after Clinton sent off three expeditions ; one to 
intercept Qolonel Beaufort, who was approaching with a • 
Virginia regiment to the aid of Charleston ; a second to- 
ward Augusta, and the third toward Camden. He also 
issued a proclamation, threatening terrible punishments 
on those who would not submit. This was soon after fol- 
lowed by another, which offered pardon to all those who 
would return to their allegiance, and assist in restoring 
the royal authority. 

When Beaufort heard of the loss of Charleston he 
commenced to retreat ; but there was no escaping Tarle- 
ton, who made a forced march of one hundred and five 
miles in fifty-four hours. He surprised Beaufort at Wax- . 
haw's, on the boundary of North Carolina, and scattered 
his men, giving them no quarter, but treating them in the 



4:70 HISTOET OF THE AMEEICAK PEOPLE. 

xxxvi' ^'^^^ cruel and barbarous manner. This act has left a 

stain upon his reputation. 

1780. The other detachments passed through the country, 

meeting with no resistance, as the people felt it would be 
useless to attack them. In a short time another procla- 
mation was issued, calling upon all, except those actually 
taken in arms, to renounce their parole, and take the oath 
of allegiance. During this time, the negroes in great 
numbers deserted their masters and fled to the British. 

June. South Carolina thus conquered, Clinton returned to New 
York, leaving Cornwallis to hold the country in subjection. 

Incidents show the spirit of the times. The Rev. 
James Caldwell, a Presbyterian clergyman, was pastor of 
a church at Elizabethtown. He had excited the ire of 
the Tories and British b^' his ardent appeals in the cause 
of his country. When he preached he would lay his pis- 
tols beside him : his eloquence stirred the people, with 
whom his popularity was unbounded. His church, a sort 
of rallying point, had been used by the American soldiers 
as a shelter, while its bell gave the alarm when the enemy 
approached. The Tories called him a "frantic priest," 
and " rebel firebrand ; " but the peoi)le spoki^ of him as 
" a rousing gospel preacher." During the winter a ma- 
rauding company of the British and Tories from New 
York burned the church, and Caldwell removed his family 
to Connecticut Farms, 
jiuio After Knyphauseu heard of the capture of Charleston, 

thinking that event would have an influence upon the 
people of Jer.sey, lie set out on an e.xpedition, landing at 
Elizabethtown, and penetrated as far as Connecticut 
Farms. He met, at every step, with the most determined 
opposition ; but, nevertheless, the village was sacked and 
burned. Mrs. Caldwell, in the midst of the terror and 
confusion, retired to a room in the rear of the parsonage, 
and knelt in prayer, having by the hand one of her chil- 



5 



THE MURDER OF MRS. CALDWELL. 471 

dreii. Presently some one fired through the window, and chap. 

Bhe fell dead, pierced by two balls. The church and par- . 

sonage were both burned. Knyphausen, harassed by the 1780 
militia, made an inglorious retreat. 

Meantime, the atrocious murder of Mrs. Caldwell rous- 
ed a spirit of revenge, unprecedented in its influence. 
She was highly connected and universally beloved ; the 
murder was thought to have been designed. Caldwell 
preached more " rousing" sermons than ever. Three 
weeks later, Washington moved some of his forces toward 
the Highlands, and Knyphausen once more landed in Jer- 
sey, and pushed on toward Springfield, hoping to gain the 
passes beyond Morristown ; but alarm-guns spread the 
news of his approach, and General Greene, who had been 
left in command, was on the alert. Knyphausen found 
as much opposition as on the other occasion. The Jersey 
regiment, commanded by Dayton, and of which Caldwell 
was chaplain, was engaged in the battle. The soldiers 
were in want of wadding, and the chaplain galloped to 
the Presbyterian church, and brought a quantity of Watts' 
psalm and hymn books and distributed them for the pur- 
pose among the soldiers. " Now," cried he, " put Watts 
into them, boys ! "' The Americans increasing, Knyp- 
hausen, after burning the village of Springfield, effected 
another inglorious retreat. 

The Baron De Kalb was sent, soon after the surrender 
of Lincoln, to take command of the army South, and all 
the continental troops south of Pennsylvania were detach- 
ed for that service. In the midst of these discourage- jj^roli 
ments, Lafayette returned from his visit to France. He 
brought intelligence that a French fleet, with an army on 
board, had sailed to America, and also there might be 

' Washington Irving. 



472 HISTOET OF THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 

xixn. ^^pscted soon a supply of arms and clothing from the 

same source. 

1780. The several States were now urged to send forward 

their quotas of men and provisions, to enable the army to 
co-operate with the Fr('nch. In the camp there was al- 
most a famine ; a Connecticut regiment was on the point 
of marching home, where they cpuld obtain provisions. 
Congress was laboring to borrow money in Holland in 
order to supply these wants. 

A French fleet, consisting of seven shijjs of the line, 
and also frigates and transports, at length appeared at 
" •^' Newport. This was the first division, consisting of six 
thousand land troops. To avoid disputes that might arise 
from military etiquette, Count Rochambeau, their com- 
mander, was instructed to put himself under the command 
of Washington. The expected supplies of arms and 
clothing did not arrive, and for the want of them, the 
American army could not co-operate in an attack ujjon 
New York. 

The French fleet was followed by one from England, 
of equal strength, and now Clinton, trusting to his supe- 
rior naval force, made preparations to attack the French 
at Newport ; but as he and Admiral Arbuthnot could not 
agree as to the plan, the project was abandoned. The 
British, instead, blockaded the French. News came, not 
long after, that the second division designed for the Uni- 
ted States was blockaded at Brest by another British 
squadron. Thus, for the third time, the Americans were 
disappointed in their hopes of aid from the French fleet, 
and, instead, the militia of New England was called out 
to defend it at Newport. 

In the South was the quietness that reigns in a con- 
quered country ; but the unsubdued spirit of the patriots 
was soon aroused by their partisan leaders, — Sumter, 
Clarke, Pickens, and Francis Marion, the latter a Hugue- 
not by descent, and who had served against the Cherokees 



GATES ASSUMES THE COMMAND. 473 

at the close of the French war. These leaders, with their ohai'. 

XXXVi 
bands, generally horsemen, scoured the country, and im- 

proved every opportunity to make a dash at parties of 1780. 
British or Tories. At first they were almost destitute of 
arms ; these their ingenuity partially supplied by con- 
verting scythes and knives fastened to poles into lances ; 
vyood saws into broadswords, while the women cheerfully 
gave their pewter dishes to be melted into bullets ; from 
nitre found in caverns in the mountains, and charcoal 
burned upon their hearths, they made their powder. So 
effectually did they conduct this irregular warfare, that 
ere long foraging parties of the enemy dared not venture 
far from the main army. If these patriots were repulsed 
in one place, they would suddenly appear in another, as 
vigorous as ever. While Sumter — characterized by Corn- 
wallis, as the South Carolina " Grame Cock " — with his 
band, was on the Catawba, Marion — known as the " Swamp 
Fox" — was issuing, " with his ragged followers," from the 
swamps along the Lower Peedee, 

Congress now resolved to send General Gates to take 
command of the southern army. Great exjjectations were 
raised when it was known that the conqueror of Burgoyne 
was about to assume the command. But General Charles 
Lee remarked, " That his northern laurels would soon be 
changed into southern willows." 

De Kalb, with the regiments under his command, re- 
tarded by want of provisions, moved slowly south. His 
soldiers could only by great exertion obtain their necessary 
supplies in the barren region through which they passed. 
Because of this want, he was forced to halt three weeks 
on Deep Kiver, one of the upper tributaries of Cape Fear 
River ; there Gates overtook him, and assumed the com- 
mand. Contrary to the advice of De Kalb and his offi- 
cers, who recommended a circuitous route through the 
fertile and friendly county of Mecklenburg, Gates imme- 



474 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAi'. diately gave orders to march direct on Camden. He said 

the wagons commg from the north, and laden with pro- 

1780. visions, would overtake them in two days. They marched 
through a region of pine barrens interspersed with swamps, 
and almost destitute of inhabitants. Their only food was 
green corn, unripe apples and peaches, and such lean wild 
cattle as chance threw in their way. The wagons never 
overtook them, but disease did, and the suffering soldiers 
were greatly enfeebled. After a toilsome march of nearly 
Aug. three weeks, he encamped at Clermont, about twelve 
miles from Camden. His army had increased almost daily, 
principally from North Carolina and Virginia, and now 
numbered nearly four thousand, of whom two-thirds were 
continentals. 

Lord Rawdon, when he heard of the approach of Gates, 
retreated and concentrated his forces at Camden, at which 
place Cornwallis had just arrived from Charleston to take 
command. 

Gates made a move the following night to take a po- 
sition nearer Camden, and Cornwallis made a similar move 
to surprise Gat«s. The advance guards met in the woods ; 
after some skirmishing, both armies halted till morning. 
A.ug. With the dawn, the battle commenced. The British 
rushed on with fixed bayonets against the centre of the 
American army, where the militia were posted ; they fled 
immediately, throwing down their arms lest they should 
be encumbered in their headlong flight. Gates himself 
and Governor Caswell were both carried ofl" the held Ity 
the torrent of fugitives. The continentals stood their 
ground firmly, until their brave commander, De Kalb, 
who had received eleven wounds, fell exhausted — then 
they also gave way. 

The American army was completely routed, scattered 
in small parties, and in all directions. Their loss, in slain 
and prisoners, was nearly eighteen hundred, besides all 
their baggage and artillery. The road was strewed witb 



16. 



DEFEAT AT CAMDEN DEATH OF DE KALB. 475 

tlie dead and wounded, the work of the British cavahy, ^HAP. 

• n ^ AAA VI 

which the impetuous Tarleton urged on in pursuit of the . 

fugitives for twenty-eight miles. I'^'^O 

Certain of victory, Gates imprudently made no ar- 
rangements for a retreat, or the preservation of his stores, 
but instead, he met with the most disastrous defeat ever 
experienced by an American army. Truly, his northern 
laurels had degenerated into southern willows ! A few 
days after the battle, he arrived with about two hundred 
followers at Charlotte, in North Carolina. 

De Kalb was found by the British on the field still 
aiive ; his aide-de-camp, De Buysson, would not leave 
him, but generously suffered himself to be taken prisoner. 
The Baron lingered for a few days. His last moments 
were employed in dictating a letter to the officers and men 
of his division, expressing for them his warmest affection. 

Some days before the late battle, Sumter fell upon a 
convoy of supjjlies approaching Camden for the British, 
and took two hundred prisoners. When Cornwallis heard 
of it, he sent Tarleton in pursuit, who rode so hard, that 
half his men and horses broke down. When he arrived 
on the Catawba, Sumter had reason to think himself be- 
yond pursuit, and halted to refresh his men, when he was 
completely taken by surprise, his company routed, and 
his prisoners rescued. Thus, within three months, two 
American armies had been defeated, and scattered in 
every direction. 

Gates continued to retreat toward the North, having 
now about a thousand men. Maryland and Virginia made 
great exertions to- recruit the army, but with little suc- 
cess. 

Cornwallis, instead of conciliating the people by clem- 
ency, excited them to intense hostility hy cruelty. Of the 
prisoners taken at Sumter's defeat, there were some who 
had given their parole not to engage in the war ; a por- 
tion of these were hanged upon the spot. There was 



476 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOFLE. 

9¥Ay,- more revenge and hatred exhibited in the South Iiv the 

Whigs and Tories against each other, than in any other 

1T80. section of the States. The severity of CornwalUs, how- 
ever, did not deter the patriots from action. Marion was 
stUl in the field, and the untiring Sumter soon collected 
another force, with which he harassed the enemy. 

Washington wished to strike a decisive blow, and he 
invited Kocharabeau, who was commanding the French 
troops at Newport, to meet him at Hartford, to devise a 
plan of attack upon New York. After consultation, it 
was found that the French naval force was insufficient to 
cope with the British fleet at New York. Accordingly, 
the French Admiral on the West India station was invited 
to co-operate ; and, until he could be heard from, the en- 
terprise was postponed. 

While Washington was thus absent from head-quar- 
ters, a nefarious plot, which had been in train for some 
months, came to light. One of the bravest officers of the 
American army was about to tarnish his fair name as a 
patriot, and bring upon it the scorn and contempt of all 
honorable men. It was discovered that Arnold had prom- 
ised to betray into the hands of the enemy the important 
fortress of West Point. The wounds he had received at 
the battle of Behmus's Heights had unfitted him for ac- 
tive service, and he was placed in command at Philadel- 
phia. There he lived in a very extravagant style ; in- 
volved himself in debts, to pay which he engaged in pri- 
vateering and mercantile speculations, most of whicli 
were unsuccessful. He was accused of using the public 
funds, and condemned by a court-martial to receive a 
reprimand from the Commander-in-chief, who performed 
the unpleasant dfity as delicately as possible. Yet Arnold 
felt the disgrace, and determined to be revenged. While 
in Philadelphia he married into a Tory family, which 
opened a way to an intercourse with British officers Hit 



TREASON OF ARNOLD MAJOR JOHN ANDRE. 477 

merits as an officer were great, but Congress evidently ^lur 

took into consideration his private character. The mem- 

bers from Connecticut knew him well. He was prover- 1780. 
bially dishonest in his dealings, disregarded the rights of 
others, indifferent as to what men thought of his integrity, 
and to those under him cruel and tyrannical. In conse- 
quence of these inexcusable faults many distrusted him. 
The question has been raised. Why did Wasliington trust 
Arnold ? Evidently, because he knew him only as an 
efficient and brave officer. It is not probable any person 
took the liberty of whispering to the Commander-in-chief 
the defects of Arnold's private character. We know that 
during his whole life, Washington was governed by the 
principle of apjiointingto office none but honest men. 

In the midst of his troubles, Arnold's selfishness be- 
came superior to his patriotism, and he opened a corre- 
spondence with Sir Henry Clinton, under the signature of 
Gustavus. For months this continued, when he made 
himself known. In the mean time, he applied to Wash- ^"n 
ington and obtained the command of West Point, with 
the full intention of betraying that important post. 

In the British army was a young man of jjleasing ad- 
dress ; accomplished in mental acquirements, and as 
amiable as he was brave. Disappointed in love, he had 
joined the army and made fame the object of his ambi- 
tion ; as capable of planning the amusements for a ball or 
a masquerade as of fulfilling the duties of his office — that 
of adjutant-general. He won many friends, and with Sir 
Henry Clinton was a special favorite. It devolved upon 
this young man. Major John Andre, to answer the letters 
of " Gustavus." This he did under the feigned name of 
" John Anderson." When Arnold revealed his true char- 
acter, Andre volunteered to go up the Hudson on board 
the sloop-of-war Vulture, to have an interview with him, 
and make the final arrangements for carrying out the 
treachery. 



478 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



xxxvi' "^^^ Vulture came to anchor a short distance below 

the American lines. Thence a flag was sent to Arnold, 

17S0. giving him the information. In the evening the latter 
2j/ sent a boat to bring Andi'e ashore. The night passed, 
however, before their plans were arranged, and Andre was 
compelled, though very unwillingly, to pass the next day 
within the American lines. During the day the Vulture 
attracted the attention of some American gunners, who 
began to fire upon her, and she dropped down the stfeara. 
For some unexplained reason, the man who had brought 
Andre ashore refused to take him back to the sloop, and 
he was forced to return to New York by land. He changed 
his uniform for a citizen's dress, and with a pass from Ar- 
nold, under the name of John Anderson, set out. Passing 
to the east side of the river, he travelled on unmolested 
until he came in the vicinity of Tarrytown. There he 
was arrested by three young men, John Paulding, David 
Williams, and Isaac Van Wart. They asked him some 
questions, and he, supposing them Tories, did not pro- 
duce his pass, but said he was " from below," meaning 
New York, and that he was a British ofBcor, travelling on 
important business. When lie found his mistake, he 
offered them his watch, his purse, and any amount of 
money, if they would let him pass. Their jjatiiotism was 
not to be seduced. Paulding declared that if he would 
give ten thousand guineas he should not stir a step. In 
searching his person, they found in his boots papers of a 
Sept. suspicious character. They brought him to Colonel Jami- 
son, the commanding officer on the lines at Peekskill. He 
recognized the handwriting as that of Arnold. The paper 
contained a description of West Point, and an account of 
its garrison. But he could not believe that his superior 
officer was guilty of treason, and had it not been for the 
protests of Major Talmadge, the second in command, he 
would have sent the prisoner to Arnold ; as it was, he 
sent him a letter giving an account of the arrest, and of 



9 



TRIAL OF ANDRE HIS EXECUTION. 479 

the papers found upon his person. The papers he sent char 
by express to Washington, now on his way from Hartford. 

The letter came to Arnold while he was breakfasting 1780. 
with some officers, who had just returned from that place. 
Concealing his emotions, he rose from the table, called his 
wife out of the room, briefly told her he was a ruined man 
and must flee for his life. She fell insensible at his feet. 
He directed the messenger to attend to her, returned to 
the breakfast-room, excused himself on the plea that he 
must hasten to the fort to receive the Commander-in- 
chief. Then seizing the messenger's horse, which stood 
ready saddled, he rode with all speed to the river, sprang 
into his boat, and ordered the men to row to the Vulture. 
Thence he wrote to Washington, begging him to protect 
his wife, who, he protested, was innocent of any partici- 
pation in what he had done. 

When Andre heard that Arnold was safe, he wrote to 
Washington, confessing the whole affair. He was imme- 
diately brought to trial under the charge of being within 
the American lines, as a spy. Though cautioned to say g^^ 
nothing to criminate himself, he confessed the whole, and 29. 
on his own confession he was found guilty. The commis- 
sion to try him was presided over by General Greene. 
Lafayette and Steuben were also members of it. Andre 
protested that he had been induced to enter the American 
lines by the misrepresentations of Arnold. • Clinton made 
every effort to save his favorite. The amiableness of An- 
dre's private character enlisted much sympathy in his 
behalf. And Washington wished, if possible, to spare 
him ; but a higher duty forbid it. Inexorable martial law 
denied him his last request, that he might be shot as a 

soldier, and not hanged as a spy. 

Oct. 
2 
Cornwallis at length commenced his march toward 

North Carolina. His army was in three divisions ; one Sept. 

of which, under Colonel Patrick Ferguson, was to move 



480 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

x\w' ^° *^^*^ ^^^^* ^^'^^^ ^^'° mountains, to intimidate the Whigs, 

and enroll the numerous Tories said to be in that region. 

1780. The cavalry, and a portion of the light troops, under Taile- 
ton, were to move up the Catawba, while the main body, 
under Cornwallis himself, was to take the route by way 
of Charlotte, Salisbury, and Hillsborough, through the 
region in which the Whigs were very numerous. This 
was with the expectation of forming a juncture with 
troops sent to the lower Chesapeake from New York. As 
soon as the . British army began its march, the Whigs 
sprang into activity, and harassed them ; scarcely did an 
express sent from any division of the army escape being 
shot or taken. Cornwallis declared Charlotte " the hor- 
net's nest of North Carolina." 

Ferguson, the son of a Scotch judge of eminence, had 
entered the army from the love of military life, had seen 
service in Germany, and was deemed by Cornwallis an 
excellent officer. He excelled in the use of the rifle, and 
in training others to the use of that weapon. He was 
generous and humane ; in any enterprise persevering and 
cool. Over his company of light-infantry regulars he had 
control, and restrained them from deeds of violence ; but 
he was joined b}' a rabble of desperadoes and rancorous 
Tories. As they passed through the country, these Tories 
committed outrages upon the inhabitants. He met with 
scarcely any opposition. But information of these out- 
rages and of his approach had spread rapidly throughout 
the region. Little did Ferguson think that at this time, 
when he neither saw nor heard of an enemy — for all his 
expresses were cut off — that from the distant hills and 
valleys of the Clinch and the Holston, and from the eastern 
s])urs of the mountains, companies of mounted backwoods- 
men — their only baggage a knapsack and blanket, their 
only weapon a rifle — were passing silently through the 
forests to a place of rendezvous in his front. The most 
formidable of these were from Tennessee and' Kentucky, 



BATTLE OF KIXG'S MOUNTAIN. 481 

under Colonels Sevier and Shelby, — afterward first gov- 
ernors of those States. 

Rumors stole into his camp that these half-farmers 1V80. 
and graziers and half-hunters were assembling ; but he 
scouted the idea that they could oppose him ; though, 
when he received more correct information, he began to 
retreat as rapidly as possible. He had not been long on 
his way when this motley host, three thousand strong, 
came- together. They held a council ; they were not to 
be baffled ; about nine hundred mounted their fleetest 
horses and started in pursuit. They rode for thirty-six 
hours, part of the time through a drenching rain, dis- 
mounting but once. Ferguson was astonished at their 
perseverance. He pushed for a strong position on King's 
Mountain, near the Catawba. This mountain rises almost 
like a cone ; its top was sparsely covered with tall forest 
trees, while at the base they were more dense. On the 
level space on the top he arranged his men, saying, with 

an oath, that the " rebels" could not drive him from his 

■ .- Oct. 

position. y 

The backwoodsmen approached, reconnoitred, held a 

council, then dismounted to attack the .enemy in three 

divisions — in front, and on the right and left flanks. The 

battle .soon commenced, the Americans crept up the sides 

of the mountain, and with deliberate aim poured in their 

deadly bullets. Ferguson, on a white charger, rode round 

and round the crest of the hill, and cheered his men. No 

impression was made on the assailants. He ordered the 

regulars to charge bayonet, and they drove the left division 

down the side of the mountain — for the backwoodsmen 

had no bayonets. Presently the regulars were taken in 

flank, and they retreated to the top, where, by this time, 

the second division had clambered up. This they drove 

back also ; but before the regulars, now almost exhausted, 

could regain their position, the third division was on the 

plain. Thus it was, as often as a division retired before 

31 . 



482 HISTOKY OF THE AlIEEICAN PEOPLE. 

nxvi *^^^ tayonet^ another gave relief. Ferguson passed from 

_ point to point, and cheered and rallied his men ; but sud- 

1T90. denly his white charger was seen dashing down the moun- 
tain-side without a rider : he had fallen by a rifle-ball. 
The animating spirit was gone ; the Britisli and Tories 
grounded their arms and surrendered at discretion. Three 
hundred had been killed or wounded, and more than eight 
hundred were made jjrisoners. The backwoodsmen lost 
but twenty slain and a somewhat larger number wounded. 
Ten of the Tories, who had been especially cruel toward 
their countrymen, were hanged upon the sjjot. 

The backwoodsmen disbanded and returned home ; 
their victory had revived the drooping spirits of the south- 
ern patriots. The battle of King's Mountain bore the 
same relation to Cornwallis, that the battle of Bennington 
did to Burgoyne ; and both were won by the undisciplined 
yeomanry. 

When Cornwallis heard of the defeat of Ferguson he 
retreated from Salisbury to Winnsborough, in South Car- 
olina. In one portion of the country Marion appeared, 
but Tarleton foj-ced him to retreat to the swamps. Then 
the active Sumter appeared in force again, and repulsed a 
detachment sent against him. Tarleton went in pursuit, 
but Sumter learned of his approach, and began to retreat 
rapidly, while Tarleton jaressed on with his usual vigor. 
Sumter chose an advantageous position ; Tarleton attacked 
him, but was repulsed, and in turn forced to retreat. Sum- 
ter was severely wounded : he was compelled to retire for 
some months ; his band, in the mean time, separated. 

Gates now advanced South to Charlotte. Here he 
was overtaken by Greene, who, on the suggestion of 
Washington, had been appointed by Congress to the com- 
mand of the southern army. Congress had also ordered 
an inquiry into the conduct of Gates. 

Greene found the remnants of the arn.v in a miserable 



CIVIL WAR IN THE SOUTH THE ARMED NEUTRALITY, 483 

condition, without pay, without necessaries, and their S^^^ 

clothes in rags. To increase the army, divisions were sent 

from the North. Morgan with a regiment, Lee's body of 1780. 
horse, and some companies of artillery, were with Gates 
when Greene arrived. 

During this time, a civil war, almost savage in its 
character, was raging all over the Carolinas. Little par- 
ties of Whigs and Tories fought with each other whenever 
they met ; they ravaged each others' neighborhoods, and 
plundered the people of their furniture, and even of their 
clothes. 

The year was about to ond, with the British power 
triumphant in the three southern States. In Georgia the 
royal government was re-established, while the important 
points held in the Carolinas gave the enemy almost the 
entire control of those States. The numerous Tories were 
exultant, while the whole country was nearly exhausted 
by the long continuance of the war. 

During the summer of this year, it was thought Eng- 
land would find abundant emj^loyment for her armies 
and navy nearer home. Because she had the power, by • 
means of a vast navy, she assumed the right to board the 
ships of any neutral nation, and to search for merchandise 
contraband of war — a piactice as arbitrary and arrogant 
as it was unjust and injurious. Queen Catharine, of Rus- 
sia, would submit no longer to the imposition. She pro- 
posed to enter into a combination, known as the " Armed 
Neutrality," with Denmark and Sweden, to enforce the 
policy that " Free ships make free goods." That, in time 
of war, ships of neutral nations could carry merchandise 
without liability to seizure by the belligerent powers. The 
British ministry hesitated to enlist the whole maritime 
world against their commerce, that was already suffering 
much. Holland gave indications that she was willing, 
not only to join the "armed neutrality," but to enter into 
a commercial treaty with the United States. This inten- 



484 



HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAK PEOPtE. 



x)om' ^^*^° became known by the capture of a correspondence on 

the subject. The vessel on board of which Henry Laurens. 

1780. the American Minister to Holland, had sailed, was cap- 
tured by an English frigate. Laurens threw the papers 
overboard, but an English sailor leaped into the water and 
recovered them. 

Laurens was descended from one of the many Hugue- 
not families that sought an asylum in South Carolina ; 
nor did he belie the nobleness of his ancestry. He was 
taken to England and confined a close prisoner in the 
Tower of London, on a charge of high treason, plied with 
inducements to desert his country's cause, but without 
avail. He stood firm, and was finally liberated, to pro- 
ceed to Paris, there to aid in negotiating a treaty with 
England herself, on behalf of his country, which had fought 
its way to independence. 

The British ministry demanded that this correspond- 
ence should be disavowed, but the States-General, with 
their usual coolness, gave an evasive answer. England 
declared war immediately, and her fleet exhibited theii 

• thirst for plunder by entering at once on a foray against 

the commerce of Holland throughout the world. 

England now had reason to be alarmed at surrounding 
dangers. Spain joined France, and their combined fleets 
far outnumbered hers in the West Indies. Holland de- 
clared war against her, while nearer home there was dan- 
ger. Eighty thousand Irishmen had volunteered to rejiel 
a threatened invasion from France ; but now these volun- 
teers, with arms in their hands, were clamoring against 
the oppression that England exercised over their industry 
and commerce, and threatened to follow the examjile of 
the American colonies in not using British manufactures ; 
and, what was still more ominous, demanded that the 
Irish Parliament should be independent of English con- 
trol. The whole world was affected by these struggles. 
Spain sent her ships to prey upon English commerce, and 



THE ENERGY OF ENGLAND. 485 

an army to besiege the English garrison at Gibraltar, chap. 

DO xxxvx 
France had armies against her in America and in India — 

both aiding rebellious subjects. To meet tbese over- 1780. 

whelming powers, England put forth gigantic efforts. We 

must admire the indomitable spirit, that steady energy, 

with which she repelled her enemies, and held the world 

at bay. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 

» The Spirit of Revolt amocg the Soldiers. — Arnold ravages the Shores of the 
Chesapeake. — Battle of the Cowpeus. — Morgan retreats; Coriiwalhs 
pursues. — Greene marches South. — Lee scatters the Tories.— Battle of 
Guildford Court House. — Conflict at Hobkirk's Hill. — The Execution of 
Hayne. — Battle of Eutaw Springs. — Plans to Capture New York. — 
Wayne's Daring at the James River. — National Finances. — Robert Mor- 
ris. — French and American Armies on the Hudson. — Clinton deceived. — 
Combined Armies beyond the Delaware. — French Fleet in the Ches- 
apeake. — Cornwallis in the Toils.— The Attack ; Surrender of the Brit- 
ish Army and Navy. — Thanksgivings. 

CHAP. The last year of the struggle for Independence opened, 

_" as had all the others, with exhibitions of distress among 

1V81. the soldiers. The regiments of the Pennsylvania line, en- 
camped for the winter near Morristown, grew impatient 
at the indifference of Congress to their necessities. In 
truth, that body was more or less distracted by factions, 
and made no special . efforts to relieve the wants of the 
soldiers. Thirteen hundred of these men, indignant at 
Jan. gygjj neglect, broke out in open revolt, and under the 
command of their sergeants, marched off toward Philadel 
phia, to lay their complaints before Congress. 

General Wayne, to prevent their pillaging, sent after 
them provisions ; he himself soon followed, and urged 
them to return to their duty. The sergeants, at his in- 
stance, proposed to send a deputation to Congress, and 
to the Pennsylvania Assembly, but the soldiers refused to 



REVOLTS IN THE ARMY. 487 

entertain the proposition, and persisted in going tliem- ^5^|^-jj 

selves. Though thns mutinous, they scorned the thought 

of turning "Arnolds," as they expressed it, but promptly \t8\.' 
arrested as spies two Tory emissaries sent by Sir Henry 
Clinton to tamper with their fidelity. -These emissaries 
were soon after hanged. Wayne in his zeal placed him- 
self before the mutineers and cocked his pistols. In an 
instant their bayonets were at his breast. They besought 
him not to fire, saying : " We love, we respect you, but 
you are a dead man if you fire. Do not mistake us ; we 
are not going to the enemy ; were they now to come out 
you would see us fight under your orders, with as much 
resolution and alacrity as ever." 

Intelligence of this revolt excited great alarm in Phila- 
delphia. Congress sent a committee, which was accom- 
panied by Reed, the President of Pennsylvania, to meet 
the insurgents and induce them to return to their duty. 
The committee proposed to relieve their present wants, to 
give them certificates for the remainder of their pay, and 
to indemnify them for the loss they had sustained by the 
depreciation of the continental money. Permission was 
also given to those who had served three years to with- 
draw from the army. On these conditions the soldiers 
returned to the ranks. When ottered a reward for deliv- 
ering up the British emissaries sent to corrupt them, they 
refused it, saying : " We ask no reward for doing our 
duty to our country." 

The discohtent spread. Three weeks after this afiair, 
the New Jersey line also revolted ; but that was sup- 
pressed by a strong hand in a few days. So much discon- 
tent in the army spread consternation throughout the 
country ; not, however, without a salutary effect. The 
patriots were awakened to make greater exertions to pro- 
vide for the necessities of the soldiers. Their self-denials, 
labors, and Bufi"erings had been too long overlooked. 

Urgent demands were now sent to all the States, 



488 



mSTOET OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 



tvxvn especially those of New England, to furnish the army 

with the proper necessaries. To encourage enlistments, 

1781 some of the States promised to provide for the families of 
the soldiers, and Congress endeavored to obtain a foreign 
loan. 

Arnold, as the reward of his treachery, received fifty 
thousand dollars, and the commission of brigadier-general 
in the British army. Lost to shame, he put forth a 
" Proclamation to the officers and soldiers of the Continen- 
tal Army." He contrasted their privations and want of 
pay with the comforts and full pay of the British soldiers, 
and oiFered every man who should desert to the royal 
cause, fifteen dollars as a bounty, and full pay thereafter. 
The " proclamation" had no other effect than to increase 
the detestation in which the soldiers held the traitor. 

Clinton sent Arnold with sixteen hundred men, British 
and Tories, to ravage the coasts of Virginia. Thomas 
Jefferson, who was then governor, called out the miHtia 
Jan, to defend Richmond ; but only about two hundred men 
could be raised, and with great difficulty most of the pub- 
lic stores were removed. After Arnold had taken pos- 
session of the town, he proposed to spare it, if permitted 
to bring up the ships and load them with the tobacco 
found in the place, Jefferson promptly rejected the prop- 
osition. Arnold destroyed a great amount of private 
property, burned the public buildings, and some private 
dwellings. He then dropped down the river, landing oc- 
casionally to burn and destroy. 

Baron Steuben, who was at this time in Virginia en- 
listing soldiers for Greene's army, had not an adequate 
force to repel the invaders. Washington sent to his aid 
Lafayette, with twelve hundred men, principally from 
New England and Jersey. They hoped to capture Ar- 
nold. On the same errand, two French ships of war con- 
trived to enter the Chesapeake. Soon after, the whole 



BATTLE OF THE COWPENS. 489 

French fleet, with troops on board, sailed from Newport S?^y(, 

for the same place. A British fleet followed from New 

York, and an indecisive engagement took place between 1781. 
them ofi' the entrance to the bay. The French fleet, 
worsted in the fight, returned to Newport, while the Brit- 
ish entered the bay and reinforced Arnold with two thou- 
sand men, imder General Phillips, who had recently been 
exchanged for General Lincoln. Phillips assumed the 
command, much to the satisfaction of the British ofiicers, 
who disliked to serve under the traitor. 

Thus, for the fourth time, the French fleet failed to 
co-operate with the American land-forces; in consequence 
of which Lafayette was compelled to halt on his way at 
Annapolis. 

Phillips, having now a superior force, sent detach- Mar. 
ments up the rivers and ravaged their shores. One of the 
vessels sailed up the Potomac as as far as Mount Vernon. 
The manager of the estate saved the houses from being 
burned by furnishing supplies. Washington reproved 
him in a letter, saying, he "would prefer the buildings 
should be burned, than to save them by the pernicious 
practice of furnishing supplies to the enemy." 

Cornwallis, who was at Wiunsborough, detached Tarle- i 

ton, with about a thousand troops, cavalry and light- 
infantry, to cut off Morgan's division, which was in the 
region between the Broad and Catawba rivers. When 
Morgan heard of Tarleton's approach, he retired toward 
the Broad River, intending to cross it. Tarleton pursued 
with his usual rapidity. Morgan saw that he must be 
overtaken ; he halted, refreshed his men, and prepared for 
the cunflict. He chose his ground at a place known as 
" The Cowpens," about thirty miles west of King's Moun- 
tain, and thus named because herds of cattle were pas- 
tured in that portion of the Thickety mountains. The '^'"' 
two armies were about equal in numbers. More than half 
of Morgan's were North and South Carolina militia, imder 



490 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

rS^Yu Co^oi^sl Pickens. Morgan disposed bis men to the best 

advantage ; the Continentals on a woody hill, and the 

1781. militia in a line by themselves. He was deficient in cav- 
alry, but placed wtiat he had under' Colonel Washington, 
as a reserve. The British and Tories, though fatigued by 
their last night's march, were confident of victory ; they 
rushed on with shouts. The militia stood their ground, 
delivered their fire, but quailing before the bayonet, they 
broke and fled. In pursuing the fugitives, the enemy 
almost passed by the Continentals, who, to avoid being 
taken in flank, fell back in order. This movement the 
British mistook for a retreat, arid they commenced a vig- 
orous pursuit, but when they approached within thirty 
yards, the Continentals suddenlj' wheeled, ijoured in a 
deadly volley, then charged bayonet, completely routed 
them, and captured their colors and cannon. Mean time 
the British cavalry, under Tarleton himself, continued the 
pursuit of the militia. While thus rushing on in con- 
fusion, the American cavalry attacked them in flank, and 
routed them also. These two repulses occurred almost at 
the same time, but in different parts of the field. The 
■ enemy were routed beyond recovery, and the 'Americans 

< pursued them vigorously. The fiery Tarleton, accompa- 

nied by a few followers, barely escaped capture. Of his 
eleven hundred men he lost six hundred, while Morgan's 
loss was less than eighty. 

When Cornwallis, who was only twent3--five njiles dis- 
tant, heard of Tarleton's defeat, he at once determined 
upon his course. He thought that Morgan, encumbered 
with prisoners and spoils, would linger for some time near 
the scene of his victory. He therefore destroyed his bag- 
gage, converted his entire army into light troops, and with 
all his force set out in pursuit. His object was twofold ; 
to rescue the prisoners, and crush Morgan before he could 
cross the Catawba and unite his force with that of Gen» 
eral Greene. 



THE RETREAT AND THE PURSUIT. , 491 

Morgan was too watchful to be thus caught. He knew ^^^^^j, 

Coinwallis would pursue him, and he left his wounded 

under a flag of truce, and hurried on to the Catawba, and 1781 
crossed over. Two hours had scarcely elapsed before the 
British vanguard appeared on the opposite bank. A sud- 
den rise in the river detained Cornwallis two days ; in 
the mean time Morgan sent off his prisoners, and refreshed 
bis men. 

When Greene heard of Morgan's victory, he put his 
troops in motion, and two days after the passage of the* 
Catawba joined him and assumed the command. He was 
not yet able to meet the enemy, and the retreat was con- 
tinued toward the Yadkin, the upper course of the Peedee. 
His encumbered army could move but slowly ; just as his 
rear-guard was embarking on the river, the British van Feb. 
came up. A skirmish ensued, in which the Americans 
lost a few baggage wagons. To-morrow, thought Corn- 
wallis, I shall secure the prize ; and he halted for the 
night to rest his weary soldiers. The rain had poured in 
torrents, and in the morning the river was so much swollen, 
that his army could not ford it, and Greene had secured 
all the boats on the other side. The latter, though here 
joined by other divisions, dared not risk a battle with his 
unrelenting jmrsuers. He called out the militia in the 
neighborhood to check the enemy at the fords, and hur- 
ried on to cross the river Dan into Virginia, when'ce alone 
he could receive recruits and supplies. General Morgan, 
on account of illness, now withdrew from the army, and 
Greene left Colonel Otho H. Williams, with some light- 
armed troops, to keep the pursuers in check. 

As soon as possible Cornwallis crossed the Yadkin ; 
if the Americans could get beyond the Dan they would 
be safe, and he strained every nerve to cut them off. He 
supposed they could not cross at the lower ferries for want 
of boats, and that they must go higher up the stream, 
where it could be forded. With this impression he pushed 



492 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

j^^p. for the upper fords, and Colonel Williams kept up Lis 

delusion by manoeuvring before him in that direction. 

1781. But the judicious Greene, anticipating the movement, had 
taken measures to collect boats at the lower ferries, and 
sent forward Kosciusko to throw up breastworks to defend 
them. He now urged on his weary soldiers, at the rate 
of thirty miles a day, reached the ferries, and carried over 
his main body, and the baggage. Meanwhile, when they 
had sufficiently retarded the pursuers, by breaking down 
, bridges and carrying off provisions, the light-troops, as if 
for the night, kindled their camp-fires in sight of the foe ; 
'T'' tben dashed off, and by a rapid march of forty miles, 
reached the ferries and passed over. In a few hours, the 
van of the British appeared on the opposite bank. Corn- 
wallis, in his movement toward the upper fords, had gone 
twenty-five miles out of his way. After a chase of more 
than two hundred miles, the object of his pursuit hiy in 
sight, but the waters between could not be forded, nor 
could boats be obtained. As the two armies rested in 
sig-ht of each other, how different were their emotions ! 
The one overflowing with gratitude, the other chafed with 
disappointment. 

The half-clad Americans had toiled for nearly four 
weeks over roads partially frozen, through drenching rains, 
without tents at night ; multitudes were without shoes, 
and in this instance, as in many others during the war, 
their way could be tracked in bloody foot-prints. Twice 
had the waters, through which they had safely passed, 
risen and become impassable to their pursuers, and again 
a river swollen by recent rains lay between them. Was 
it strange, that those who were accustomed to notice the 
workings of Providence, believed that He who orders all 
things, had specially interposed His arm for the salvation 
of the patriots ? 

After resting his soldiers — who, if they were compelled 
to march rapidly, were comfortably clad — Cornwallis com- 



GREENE MARCHES IN PURSUIT THE TORIES DEFEATED. 493 

menced to move slowly back. He and his officers were !^!^i^y,, 

greatly mortified at their want .jf success ; they had made 

great sacrifices in destroying their private stores, that 1781 
when thus freed from encumbrances, they could overtake 
the Americans and completely disperse them. A few 
days later, he took post at Hillsboj'ough, whence he issued 
another of his famous proclamations. 

General Greene refreshed his troops, of whom he wrote 
to Washington, that they were " in good spirits, notwith- 
standing their sufferings and excessive fatigue." He then 
repassed the Dan, and boldly marched in jiursuit, to en- 
courage the Whigs of the Carolinas, and prevent the To- 
ries from rising. 

It was rumoVed that Taileton was enlisting and organ- 
izing great numbers of Tories in the district between the 
Haw and Deep rivers. General Greene sent Colonels Mar. 
Lee and Pickens, with their cavalry, against him. On 
their way they met three or four hundred mounted Tories, 
wiio mistook their men for Tarleton's, and came riding 
up, shouting " Long live the king ! " It was for them a 
sad mistake. The Americans made no reply, but sur- 
rounded them, and without mercy cut them to pieces. 
Another exhibition of that deadly rancor that prevailed in 
the South between the Whigs and the royalists. This 
check taught the Tories caution, and materially dimin- 
ished their enlistments. Many others, on their way to 
the British camp, when they heard of this conflict, re- 
turned to their homes. 

Cornwallis, almost destitute of supplies, changed his Feb. 
position, and moved further South. Greene cautiously 
followed, not daring, from very weakness, to risk an en- 
gagement with the enemy's veterans, except when they 
were in small parties. As for himself, he was so watchful 
against surprise, that he never remained more than one 
day in the same place, and never communicated to any 
one beforehand .where he expected to encamp. 



494 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP Fresh troops, in the mean time, were gradually joining 

him from Virginia and Maryland, and when his force 

1781. amounted to four thousand, he left his baggage seventeen 
miles in the rear, and approached the enemy to give them 
battle. It was in the vicinity of Guilford Court House. 
15.' He drew his army up in two lines ; the. militia, in whom 
he had little confidence, as they were apt to give wf y at 
the first charge, he placed behind a fence, and stationed 
sentries in the rear, with orders to shoot the first man 
who should run. The battle was fought in a region cov- 
ered with thick woods, with cleared fields interspersed. 
The North Carolina militia could not withstand the shock 
' of the British charge, but threw down their arms and fled. 

The Virginia militia, under Colonel Stevens, stood their 
ground, and for a time kept up a destructive fire ; but 
they too were compelled to yield to the bayonet. Now 
the enemy pressed on in pursuit, but presently Colonel 
Washington charged them with bis horse, and drove them 
back. ■ Then again the British artillery opened upon the 
American pursuers, and they in turn were checked. 
Greene depended much on his Continentals, but one of 
the nevi'ly-raised Maryland regiments gave way before a 
battalion led by Colonel Stewart. The battalion was 
presently checked by Colonel Washington's cavalry, and 
the brave Stewart was himself slain. It was impossible 
to retrieve what the North Carolina militia had lost, and 
Greene ordered a retreat, which he conducted with his 
usual skill. 

Though Greene retreated from the field, Cornwallis 
was unable to pursue. More than a thousand of the mili- 
tia deserted and returned home, and Greene's army was 
soon as weak as ever. This has been thought one of the 
severest battles of the whole war. " The wounded of both 
armies lay scattered over a wide space. There were no 
houses nor tents to receive them. The night that followed 
the battle was dark and tempestuous ; horrid shrieks re- 



CONFLICT AT H^BKIRK'S HILL. 495 

sounded through the woods ; many expired hefore morn- jP-SA^-, 
ing. Such is war ! " 

Cornwallis's army was so broken by this battle, and 1781. 
weakened by desertions and sickness, that it numbered 
but about fourteen hundred men. He was compelled to 
abandon his position, and fall back to Wilmington, near 
the seaboard. After recruiting his men, Greene boldly 
marched into South Carolina, and advanced rapidly upon 
Camden, where Lord Rawdon with a small force held April 
command. That central position was connected, on the 
one hand, with Charleston, and on the other with the 
strong forts of Ninety-Six and Augusta. Between these 
important points, there were several smaller posts. Lee 
and Marion were sent, with their ca.va.hy, to attack 
some of these. Greene himself advanced within two 
miles of the British lines, and encamped at Hobkirk's 
Hill, near a swamp which covered his left. Eawdon 
thought to surprise the Americans, made a circuit of the 
swamp, and came suddenly upon the camp ; but the sur- 
prise was only partial. Greene promptly formed his line. 
In moving along a narrow passage, the British were ex- 
posed to a severe fire, and the American infantry were 
about to attack them in flank, while the horse, under 
Colonel Washington, moved to charge them in the rear, 
Rawdon brought up his reserve to. counteract this move- April 
ment. A regiment of Continentals, in the American "^• 
centre, and, upon whom Greene depended very much, 
unexpectedly gave way, and thus threw the army into 
confusion, and a retreat was ordered. 

The loss on each side was nearly equal ; the Americans, 
however, brought off their cannon, and checked the pursuit. 
In the mean while several fortified places belonging to the 
British fell into the hands of Lee and Marion, thus breaking 
up the communication between Charleston and the interior. 

Rawdon abandoned Camden, and retreated to Monk's 
Corner, in the vicinity of Charleston. 



406 HISTORY OF THE 'AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Greene marched against the strong post of Ninety-Six, 

but after besieging it tor some time, he heard that Eawdon 

■ 1781. had been reinforced, and was then hastening to relieve it. 

After making a vigorous attempt to take the place by 

assault, he raised the siege and retreated across the Sa- 

Jiine luda. The heat had now become excessive, and both 
18 

armies retired from active operations : the American on 

the hills of the Santee, and the British on the Congaree. 

Tlie British had lost in the space of seven months the 

greater part of South Carolina, and were now restricted to 

the region between the Santee and the Lower Savannah. 

The partisan warfare continued, although the main armies 

were at rest. 

The British resolved to execute as traitors those who 
had given their parole not to engage in the war or had re- 
ceived a protection, if they should be taken prisoners with 
arms in tbeir hands. A distingnislied citizen of Charleston, 
Colonel Isaac Hayne, had been taken prisoner at the cap- 
ture of that city, but owing to family afflictions — a sick 
and dying wife and helpless children — he gave his jmrole 
to remain neutral, and was promised protection. In vio- 
lation of this pledge, he was soon after ordered to take up 
arms against his countrymen. He refused ; but instead 
deemed himself justified in again joining the American 
army. 

He was again taken prisoner, and now condemned to 
die as a traitor. The inhabitants of Chavlestgu, Whig and 
Tory, petitioned for his pardon, yet Eawdon refused, and 
Hayne was hanged. His execution was looked upon as 
contrary to military rule, cruel and unjust. In the minds 
of the Whigs the bitterest animosity was excited. Greene 
thi-eatened to retaliate. The American soldieis were with 
difficulty restrained from putting to death the British offi- 
cers whom they took prisoners. 

When the heat of the weather somewhat abated, 
Greene moved from the hills up the Wateree to Camden, 



BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS. 497 

and thence across the Congaree and down it to tlie vicinity ^^^^j, 

of Eutaw Springs. The British, now under Colonel Stuart, 

retired before him; but the Americans surprised a large 1781. 
foraging party and took a number of prisoners. The re- 
mainder escaped and joined their main force, which im- 
mediately drew up in order of battle. Though the attack 
was made with great ardor, the enemy withstood it with 
determined bravery. The contest raged most fiercely 
around the artillery, which changed hands several times. 
The British left at length gave v/ay, and the Americans 
pursued, but presently the fugitives took po.ssession of a 
large stone house, surrounded by a picketed garden. From 
this place they could not be immediately dislodged. A Sept. 
British battalion, which had successfully resisted a charge ^• 
of the Americans, suddenly appeared a( the rear of th^ 
assailants. The latter, disconcerted by this movement, 
and thrown into confusion, began to retreat. 

The force of each army was about two thousand. The 
loss of the Biitish was seven hundred, and that of the 
Americans about five hundred. 

The victory was claimed by both parties, but the ad- 
vantage was certainly on the side of the Americans. 
Colonel Stuart, the British commander, thoiight it pru- 
dent to fall back to the vicinity of Charleston. Greene re- 
tired again to the hills of Santee to refresh his men, who were 
wretchedly oif for necessaries, being barefooted and half- 
clad, out of hospital stores, and nearly out of ammunition. 

Greene's military talents had been severely tested 
during this campaign ; he was as successful in attacking 
as he was in avoiding his enemies. In no instance was he 
really equal to them in force and equipments ; but he 
never fought a battle that did not result more to his ad- 
vantage than to that of the enemy. Their very victories 
were to them as injurious as ordinary defeats. It is not 
strange that he was the favorite officer of the Commander- 
in-chief 

32 



1781. 



Miiv. 



4i18 HISTORY OF THE AMEIMCAN PEOPLE. 

('HAP 

v.xxvii. While these events were in progress in the South, a series 
of important operations were also in train in the North. 
There were two objects, one of which might be attained : 
New York might be taken, as its garrison had been much 
weakened by sending detachments to the South; or Corn- 
wallis might be captured in Virginia. Bat neitlier of 
these could bo accomplished without the aid of a French 
army as well as fleet. While the matter was under con- 
sideration, a frigate arrived from France bringing the 
Count De Barras, who was to command the French fleet 
at Newport, and also the cheering news that twenty ships 
of the line, under the Count de Grasse, with land forces on 
board, were shortly to sail for the West Indies, and that 
a portion of this fleet and forces might be expected on 
the coast of the United States in the course of a few 
Till inths. Washington and the Count de Rochambcau had 
an interview at Wcathersfield, Connecticut, to devise a 
plan of operations. They determined to make an attack 
upon New York. The French army was soon to be 
put in motion to form a junction with the American on 
the Hudson, and a frigate was despatched to inform the 
Count de Grasse of the plan, and to invite his coopera- 
tion. 

Clinton, suspecting the designs against New York, be- 
came alarmed, and ordered Cornwallis, who was at Wil- 
liamsburg, Virginia, to send him a reinforcement of troops. 
To comply with this order, the latter marched toward Ports- 
mouth. Lafayette and Steuben cautiously followed. Their 
men numbered about four thousand ; the army of Corn- 
wallis was much more numerous and better appointed. 
Lafayette intended to attack the rear-guard of the British 
when the main body had passed James River. Cornwallis 
suspected the design, and laid his plans to entrap the 
Marquis. He sent over a portion of his troops with the 
pack-horses, and so arranged them as to make a great dis- 
play ; then threw in the way of the Americans a negro 



July 
0." 



BAKING ATTACK BY WAYNE. 499 

and a dragoon, who pretended to be deserters, and they xxxvii 

announced that the main body of the British army had 

passed the river. Latayette immediately detached Wayne l'i'81- 
with a body of riflemen and dragoons to commence 
the attack, while he liimself should advance to his sup- 
port. 

Wayne moved forward, forced a picket, which de- 
signedly gave way, but presently he found himself .close 
upon the main body of the enemy. In a moment he saw 
that he had been deceived. Wayne's daring nature de- 
cided his course : he at once ordered a charge to be 
sounded ; his men, horse and foot, caught his spirit, and 
with shouts, as if sure of victory, they dashed against the 
enemy with great impetuosity, gallantly continued the 
Hght for a short time, and then as rajiidly retreated. The 
ruse succeeded admirably. Cornwallis, astounded at the 
boidnc-s and vigor of the attack, hesitated to pursue, 
thinking the movement was designed to lead him into an 
ambuscade. This delay enabled Lafiiyette to extricate 
himself from his dangerous position. 

Cornwallis now crossed the river, but while the detach- 
ment designed for New York was embarking, a second com- 
munication was received from Clinton. He now announced 
the arrival of reinforcements of Hessians from Europe, and " 
also directed Cornwallis to retain all his force, and choose 
some central position in Virginia, and there fortify himself. 
" In accordance with this command, the latter chose the 
towns of Gloucester and Yorktown, situated opposite each 
other on York Kiver. Here, with an army of eight thou- 
sand effective men, he threw up strong intrenchments, 
and also moored in the harbor a number of frigates and 
other vessels of war. 

The financial affairs of the country continued in a de- 
plorable condition. Congress hoped to remedy the evil by 



500 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

xxxlii ^PPO^tJDg ^ single superintendent of finance, instead of 

the committee to whom it had hitherto been intrusted. 

178!. Eobert Morris, an eminent merchant of Philadelphia, one 
of the signers of the Declaration oi' Independence, received 
the appointment. He accepted the office only on the ex- 
press condition, that all transactions should be in specie 
value. The results vindicated the wisdom of the choice ; the 
genius jn furnishing the " sinews of war " was as efficient 
as that displayed by others in the field. At his instance 
Congress established the Bank of North America, with a 
capital of two millions of dollars, and to continue in force 
for ten years. The bank was pledged to redeem its notes 
in specie on presentation. This feature of the institution 
at once secured the confidence of the public, and the 
wealthy invested in it their funds. Operating by means 
of the bank, Morris raised the credit of Congress higher 
than it ever stood before ; and he was also enabled, in a 
great measure, to furnish supplies for the army and pay 
for the soldiers. Whenever pubhc means failed he pledged 
his own credit. 

Washington, on his return from the interview with 
Eochambeau, addressed letters to the authorities of New 
Jersey and New England, urging them in this emergency 
to furnish provisions and their quotas of men. But they 
, were dilatory and unable to complj', and he had but five 
thousand effective men at Peekskill, and they would liave 
been destitute of provisions, had it not been for the energy 
of Morris. 

The French army had remained inactive eleven months 
at Newport ; it now moved to join Washington in the 
July. Highlands. Information was received from the Count de 
Grasse that he would shortly sail with a large fleet for the 
United States. Washington and Rochambeau hastened 
their preparations to cooj^erate with him upon his arrival 
in the proposed attack on New York. An intercepted 
lettfer gave Clinton the knowledge of these movements, and 



CLINTON DECEIVED. THE ARMY ON THE MARCH. 501 

he was soon oo the alert to defend the city. The British S^yXjr 

posts on Manhattan Island were reconnoitred by the Amer- 

icans, the combined armies were encamped at Dobbs' Ferry 1781. 
and on the Greenburg hills, waiting for reinforcements and 
the Count de Grasse. Presently came a frigate from the 
Count to Newport with the intelligence that he intended Aug. 
to sail for the Chesapeake. This information disconcerted 
all their plans ; now they must direct their forces against 
Cornwallis. To accomplish this effectively Clinton must 
be deceived and Cornwallis kept in ignorance. To " mis- 
guide and bewilder " Sir Henry, a space for a large en- 
campment was marked out in New Jersey, near Staten 
Island ; boats were collected ; ovens were built as if pre- 
paring for the sustenance of a laige army ; pioneers were 
sent to clear roads toward King's Bridge, and pains were 
taken to keep the American soldiers ignorant of their own 
destination. 

General Lincoln was sent with the first division of the 
army across the Jerseys ; he was followed by the French. 
Wagons were in company to carry the packs of the soldiers, 
to enable them to move with more rapidity. Washington 
sent orders to Lafayette, who was yet in Virginia, to take 
a position to prevent Cornwallis retreating to North Caro- 
lina ; to retain Wayne with his Pennsylvanians, and to 
communicate with General Greene. He also wrote to the 
Count de Grasse, who would soon be in the Chesapeake. 

Thus were the plans skilfully laid by which the con- 
test was brought to a happy issue. When the Northern 
soldiers arrived in the vicinity of Philadelphia, and found 
that they were really going against Cornwallis, they mani- 
fested some discontent in prospect of the long southern 
inarch in the month of August. At this critical moment, 
John Laurens, son of Henry Laurens, President of Con- 
gress, arrived from France, whither he had been sent to 
obtain aid ; he brought with him a large supply of clothing, 
ammunition, and arms ; and what was just then very 



502 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, mucli wanted, half a million of dollars. By means of this, 

and with the aid of Morns, the soldiers received a portion 

17S1. of their pay in cash. Their good humor was restored, and 
they cheerfully marched on. 

De Barras, who commanded the French fleet at New- 
Aiig- port, suddenly put to sea. Clinton at once divined the 
object was to unite, in the Chesapeake, with another 
French fleet from the West Indies ; and he sent Admiral 
Graves to prevent the junction. The admiral was aston- 
ished to find De Grasse, with twenty-five sail of the line, 
anchored within the Capes. De Grasse ran out to sea, as 
if to give the British battle, but really to divert their at- 
^ept. tention until De Barras could enter the Bay. For five 
days the hostile fleets manoeuvred and skirmished. Mean- 
while De Barras appeared and passed within the Capes, 
and immediately De Grasse followed. Graves now re- 
turned to New York. 

Until the main body of the combined armies was be- 
yond the Delaware, Clinton supposed the movement was a 
Sejit. ruse to draw him out to fight in the open fields. Coru- 
wallis himself was as much deceived ; thinking he would 
have Lafayette only to contend with, he wrote to Clinton 
that he could spare him twelve hundred men to aid in de- 
fending New York. Not until he was fairly in the toils, 
when the French fleet had anchored within the Capes, did 
he apprehend his danger. 

Thinking that perhaps a portion of the American army 
might be sent back to defend New England, Clinton sent 
Arnold with a force, composed principally of Tories and 
Hessians, on a marauding expedition into Connecticut. 
But Washington was not to be diverted from his high pur- 
pose. While he and De Rochambcau are pushing on to- 
waid the head of the Chesapeake, let us turn aside to 
to speak of this maraud, which closes the career of f ho 
traitor in his own country. 



NEW LONDON BUKNED BY ARNOLD. 503 

New London was the first to be plundered and burned, J-jJ^yn 

and there Arnold destroyed an immense amount of prop- 

erty. Fort Griswold, commanded by Colonel William 1781. 
Ledyard — brother of the celebrated traveller — was situated 
on the opposite shore of the river. This was assaulted, 
and after an obstinate resistance, in which the British lost 
two hundred men and their tw'o highest officers, it was 
carried. When the enemy entered, the Americans laid 
down their arms, but tlie massacre continued. Major 
Bromfield, a New Jersey tory, by the death of the two 
higher officers, became the leader of the assailants. Tra- 
dition tells that when he entered the fort he inquired who 
commanded, and that Colonel Ledyard came forward, say- 
ing, " I did, sir ; but you do now ; " at the same time Sept; 
handing him his sword : that Bromfield took the sword 
and plunged it into Ledyard's breast. This was the sig- 
nal for indiscriminate slaughter, and more than sixty of 
the yeomanry of Connecticut were massacred in cold blood. 
The militia began to collect in great numbers from the 
neighboring towns. Arnold dared not meet his enraged 
countrymen, and he hastily re-embarked. These outrages 
were committed almost in sight of his birthplace. Thus 
closed " a career of ambition without virtue, of glory ter- 
minated with crime, and of depravity ending in infamy 
and ruin." 

The combined armies arrived at Elkton, where they g , 
found transports sent by Lafayette and De Grasse to con- 27. 
vey them to the scene of action. Previously De Grasse 
had landed three thousand troops under the marquis St. 
Simon, to unite with the forces under Lafayette, Steuben, 
and Y/ayne. 

As had been anticipated, Cornwallis endeavored to 
force his way to the Carolinas, but the youthful marquis, 
whom some months before he had characterized as a " boy," 
was on the alert. He then sent off expresses with urgent 



504 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



oxv^i ^PP^^^^ *° Clinton to send him aid. In the mean time he 

was indefatigable in strengthening his fortifications. 

1781. The combined forces, French and American, were 

about twelve thousand, besides the Virginia militia called 
out by Governor Nelson, who, as the State treasury was 
empty, .pledged his own property as security to obtain a 
loan of money to defray the expenses. The Governor 
was a resident of Yorktown, and when the cannonade 
was about to commence, he was asked where the attack 
would be most eifective r "He pointed to a large, hand- 
some house on a rising ground as the probable head-quar- 
ters of the enemy. It proved to be his own." 

The plan of operations were speedily arranged, and the 
allies began to press the siege with great vigor. Their 
lines were within six hundred yards of the enemy's works, 
which they completely surrounded. General Washington 
himself put the match to the first gun. The heavy ord- 
nance brought by De Barras was soon thundering at the 
fortifications. The British outworks were very strong, 
and beyond these were thrown up redoubts to hinder the 
approach of the assailants. The cannonade continued for 
four days ; the enemy's outworks were greatly damaged 
and guns dismounted, while a forty-four gun ship and 
other vessels were burned by means of red-hot shot thrown 
by the French. Cornwallis withdrew his men from the 
outworks, but the redoubts remained. Two of these were 
to be stormed ; one assigned to the French, the other to 
9';'" the Americans. The assault was made about eight o'clock 



14 



&'■ 



in the evening. The Americans, under Alexander Ham- 
ilton, were the first to enter ; they scrambled over the 
parapet without regard to order, and carried the redoubt 
at the point of the bayonet. The French captured theirs, 
but according to rule, and they sufi'ered more than the 
Americans in their headlong attack. The emulation ex- 
hibited by both parties was generous and noble. From 



16. 



SUKKENDER OF CORNWALLIS. . 505 

these captiuod redoubts a hundred heavy cannon poured J^'^yjj 

in an incessant storm of balls. Cornwallis, as he saw his , 

works one by one crumbling to pieces, his guns disabled, 1781. 
his ammunition failing, determined to make a desperate 
sally and check the besiegers. The British soldiers, a 
httle before daybreak, suddenly rushed out, and. carried 
two batteries, but scarcely had they obtained possession 
of them, before the French in turn furiously charged, and 
drove them back to their own intrenchments. But one 
avenue of escape was left ; — they must cross the river to Oct. 
Gloucester, cut a way through the opposing force, and by 
forced marches reach New York. Cornwallis resolved to 
abandon his sick and wounded and baggage, and make the 
desperate attempt. Boats were collected, and in the night 
a portion of the troops crossed over ; the second division 
was embarking, when suddenly the sky was overcast, and 
a storm of wind and rain arrested the movement. ' It was 
now daylight. The first division with difiiculty recrossed 
to Yorktown, as on the river they were subjected to the 
fire of the American batteries. Despairing of assistance 
from Clinton, and unwilling to risk the efiect of an assault 
upon his shattered works, or to wantonly throw away the 
lives of his soldiers, he sent to Washington an offer to sur- 
render. The terms were arranged, and on the 19lh of ^^ 
October, in the presence of thousands of patriots assembled 
from the neighboring country, Cornwallis surrendered seven 
thousand men as prisoners of war to Washington, as com- 
mander-in-chief of the combined army, and the shijjping, 
seamen, and naval stores to the Count de Grasse. 

At Charleston, when Lincoln capitulated, the Ameri- 
cans were not permitted to march out with their colors flv- 
ing, as bad been granted to Burgoyne, but with their colors 
cased. It was thought proper to deny them the courtesy 
granted at Saratoga, and the British soldiers wei-e directed 
to march out with their colors cased ; and Lincoln was 
deputed by Washington to receive the sword of Cornwallis. 



19. 



1781. 



506 HISTOKT OF THE AMEHICAN PEOPLE. 

xvxvn Washington sent one of his aids to carry the joyful 

: news to the Congress at Philadelphia. He reached the 

city at midnight. Soon the old State-house bell, that 
five years before signalized to the people that the Declara- 
tion of Independence was made, now awoke the slumbering 
city to .hear the watchmen cry, " Cornwallis is taken ! 
Cornwallis is taken ! " The inhabitants by thousands 
rushed into the streets to congratulate each other. Con- 
gress met the next morning and proceeded in a body to a 
church, and there publicly offered thanks to Almighty God 
for the special favor He had manifested to their struggling 
country, then issued a proclamation appointing a day for 
national thanksgiving and prayer, " in acknowledgment of 
the signal interposition of Divine Providence." Through- 
out the whole land arose the voice of thanksgiving from 
the families of the patriots, from the pulpits, from the 
army. Never did a nation rejoice more. The clouds of 
imcertainty and doubt were dispelled ; the patriots were 
exultant in the prospect of peace and of the established 
freedom of their country. Their intelligence enabled them 
to appreciate the blessings for which they had so long 
struggled. 

If the battle of Bunker Hill, or the evacuation of Bos- 
ton, had led to a reconciliation with the mother country, 
how different had been their feelings. Then an affection, 
a reverence for England would have lingered, only to re- 
tard the progress of the Colonists — at best but half-forgiven 
rebels — and hold ihem subordinate to hei', not so much in 
political dependence as formerly, but sufficient to stifle that 
sentiment of nationality, so essential to the proper develop- 
ment of their character and of the resources of the country. 

We have seen how long it took illiberal laws, en- 
forced in a tyrannical manner, to alienate their affections. 
It now required a seven years' struggle of war, outrage 
and suffering, dangers and privations, to induce a pervad- 
ing national sentiment, rouse the energies of the people, 



THE CONTINENTAL SOLDIERS. 507 

give them confidence, and lead them to sympathize with ^^^\'.'„ 

each other. 

Congress voted thanks to Washington, to the Counts 1781. 
De Eochambeau and De Grasse, and to the army gener- 
ally. Eulogies were showered upon the Commander-in- 
chief ; — the spontaneous outpourings of a grateful people, 
who, during tlie darkest hours of the contest, had in him 
unbounded confidence. 

Yorktown was now a name to be honored even beyond 
those of Bunker Hill and Saratoga. How much was involved 
in that surrender ! The long struggle was virtually ended. 
It had been a contest not for power, not for aggrandize- 
ment, but for a great truth and principle, which had been 
overshadowed by authority and pressed down by arbitrary 
rule. Said Lafayette to Napoleon, when he sneered at 
the smallness of the armies engaged in the American 
Revolution : " It was the grandest of causes, won by the 
sMrmislies of sentinels and outposts." It is true that the 
number who feU on the battle-fields was comparatively 
small. The names of but few of these have come down to 
us ; they were written only on the hearts of friends and 
relatives who mourned their loss. Scarcely was there a 
family but had a precious record ; the cherished memory 
of some one who had thus sacrificed his life. 

KoTE. — The number of soldiers furnished by each State to the Con- 
tinental army, during the war, may be seen by the following table : 



Massachusetts, . . . 67,907 

Connecticut, . . . 31,939 
Virginia, .... 26,678 

Pennsylvania, . . 25,678 

New York, . . . 17,781 

Maryland, . . . 13,912 

New Hampshire, . . 12,497 

New Jersey, . . . 10,726 



North CaroUna, . . . 7,263 

South Carolina, . . 6,417 

Rhode Island, . . . 5,908 

Georgia, .... 2,679 

Delaware, .... 2,386 



231,791 



CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 

CLOSING EVENTS OP THE WAR— FORMATION OF THE CONSTI- 
TUTION. 

British Efforts Paralyzed. — The States form Independent Governments. — 
Indian Wars. — Massacre of the Christian Delawares. — Battle of the Blue 
Lick. — Carleton supersedes Clinton. — Commissioners of Peace. — The 
common Distress. — Dissatisfaction in the .\rniy. — The " Anonymous 
Address." — Peace concluded. — British Prisoners ; the Tories. — Dishand- 
ment of the American Army. — Washington takes leave of his Officers. 
— Resigns his Commission. — Shay's Rebellion. — Interests of the States 
clash. — The Constitutional Convention.- — The Constitution ratified by 
the States. — The Territory Xorth-west of the Ohio. — Ecclesiastical Or- 
ganizations. 

CHAP. On the very clay that Cornwallis surrendered, Clinton 
-X XXV'IIL ^ %! ' 

' sailed to his aid with seven thousand men. When off the 

1781. entrance to the Chesapeake, he learned, to his astonish- 
ment, that all was lost. As the British fleet was much 
inferior to that of the French, he hastily returned to New 
York 

Washington requested Coiint de Grasse to cooperate 
with General Greene in an attack upon Charleston, but 
De Grasse pleaded the necessity of his presence in the 
West Indies, and excused himself. The Americans now 
returned to their old quarters on the Hudson. The French 
army wintered at Williamsburg in Virginia, while the 
British prisoners were marched to Winchester. 

The capture of Cornwallis paralyzed the efforts of the 



THE STATE GOVERNMENTS — BORDER WARFARE. , 509 

British and Tories. In the Soutii they evacuated all the „^^-^'j- 

posts in their possession, except Savannah and Charieston ; 

hefore the latter place Greene soon appeared, and disposed ITSI. 
his forces so as to confine them closely to the town. In 
the North, the only place held by the enemy was New 
York. 

Washington never for a moment relaxed his watchful- 
ness, but urged upon Congress and the States to prepare 
for a vigorous campaign the next year. But so impover- 
ished had the country become, that to raise men and money 
seemed almost impossible, while the prospect of peace 
furnished excuses for delay. 

The several States now took measures to form inde- 
pendent governments, or to strengthen or modify those 
already in existence. Some of these had been hastily 
formed, and, consequently, were more or less defective. 
The custom was introduced of sending delegates to con- 
ventions called for the purpose of framing constitutions, 
which were submitted to the people for their approval or 
rejection. The common law of England was adopted, and 
made the basis in the administration of justice in the 
courts. 

A cruel border warfare was still continued by incur- 
sions of Indians against the back settlements of Pennsyl- 
vania and Virginia, and against the frontiers of New York, 
by Indians and Tories. 

Many of the Delaware Indians, under the influence of 
Moravian teachers, had become Christian, and so for im- 
bibed the principles uf their instructors as to be opposed 
to war. Some of these, nearly twenty years before, had 
emigrated from the banks of the Susquehanna and settled 
on the Muskingum, where they had three flourishing vil- 
lages, surrounded by corn-fields. The hostile Indians 
from the lakes, in their incursions against the frontiers 
of Pennsylvania and Virginia, robbed these Delawares of 



510 t BISTORT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, their provisions. The Delawares became obiects of sus- 
XXXVIII 
'. picion to both the hostile Indians and the whites. The 

1781. former accused them of revealing their plans, the latter of 
conniving at the incnrsions of their enemies, and the hostile 
Indians compelled them to emigrate to the vicinity of San- 
dusky. 

In the mean time, murders had been committed by the 
8hawanese in the vicinity of Pittsburg. A company of 
eighty or ninety backwoodsmen volunteered, under a Colo- 
nel Williamson, to take revenge on the supposed murderers 
— the Christian Delawares — a portion of whom had re- 
turned to their old home to gather their corn. The expe- 
dition reached the villages on the Muskingum, collected 
the victims, it would seem, imder the pretence of friend- 
ship, then barbarously and in cold blood murdered about 
2Y.S2' ninety of these inofiensive creatures, — men, women, and 
children. 

This success excited to other invasions, and four hun- 
dred and eighty men, under Colonels Williamson and 
Crawford, marched from Western Pennsylvania to surprise 
the remnants of the Christian Indians at Sandusky, and 
also to attack the village of the hostile Wj'andottes. The 
ji,i,p Indians learned of their approach, waited for them in am- 
6. bnsh, and defeated them ; took many prisoners, among 
wliom were Crawford, his son, and son-in-law. These three 
they burned at the stake. 

About the same time, a large body of the Indians 
north of the Ohio, led by the infamous Simon Girty, a 
tory refugee, invaded Kentucky. They were met by the 
Kentuckians, under Colonels Boone, Todd, and Triggs, at 
the Big Blue Lick, when a bloody and desperate encounter 
ensued. But overwhelmed by numbers, nearly one-half 
the Kentuckians were either killed or taken prisoners. 

After the capture at Yorktown no battle occurred be- 
tween the main armies, and but one or two skirmishes. 
"^'" In one of these, in the vicinity of Charleston, the yonngei 



PEOPLE OF ENGLAND DESIRE TO CLOSE THE WAR. 511 



W'XVIII 



Laiireni? was slain — a young man (if great promise, who ^«^\| 
was universally lamented. 

Among the English people at large the desire to close 
the war had greatly increased. With them it had ever 
been unpopular ; they were unwilling that their brethren 
beyond the Atlantic should be deprived of the rights which 
they themselves so much valued. The intelligence of the sur- 
render of Cornwallis created among them stronger opposi- 
tion than ever to the harsh measures of the Government. 
Yet the war party — the King and Ministry, and the majority 
of the aristocracy — were unwilling to yield to the pressure 
of public opinion. They were thunderstruck at this unex- 
pected disaster. Says a British writer: "Lord North re- 
ceived the intelligence of the capture of Cornwallis as he 
would have done a cannon-ball in his breast ; he paced the 
room, and throwing his arms wildly about, kept exclaiming, 
' Grod ! it is all over ; it is all orer ! ' " For twelve years he 
liud been prime minister. The pliant servant of the King, 
lie had ever been in favor of prosecuting the war, but now 
1 he voice of the English people compelled him to resign. 

Sir Guy Carleton, whom we have seen winning the re- 
i^[ViCt of the Americans, by his upright and honorable con- 
duct when Governor of Canada, was appointed to succeed 
Sir Henry Clinton. In the following May he arrived at 
New York, empowered to make propositions for peace. He 
immediately addressed a letter to Washington, proposing 
a cessation of hostilities, and also issued orders, in which 
he forbade the marauding incursions of the Indians and 
Tories on the frontiers of Western New York. 

Congress appointed five commissioners to conclude a 
treaty with Great Britain. These were : John Adams, 
Doctor Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, who, lately 
released from his confinement in the Tower, was yet in 
London, and Thomas Jefferson ; — the latter, however, de- 
'•lined to serve. They met at Paris two British Commis- 
sioners, who had been authorized to treat with "certain 



512 HISTORY or THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAi'. colonics" named in their instructions. The American 

XXXVIII, . . n 1 ... 

(Jommissioners reiused to enter upon negotiations, unless 

1782. in the name of the " United States of America ; " — they 
claimed the right to be recognized a power among the 
nations. This right was acknowledged by Britain, and on 
the 30th of November the parties signed a preliminary 
treaty, which Congress ratified the following April. Ne- 
gotiations continued, and the final treaty was signed on 
178.3. the 3d of September following. France and England in 
the mean time likewise concluded a treaty of peace. Tlie 
American Commissioners also negotiated treaties of com- 
merce with Spain and Holland. 

•Though the war was ended, the American people had 
numberless difficulties with which to contend. The army, 
that through the many trials of the contest had remained' 
faithful, was in a deplorable condition. The half-pay for 
life, which, three years before, Congress had promised to 
the officers, proved to be only a promise. Washington 
wrote confidentially to the Secretary of War in behalf of 
those about to be discharged from the service : " I caunot 
help fearing the result, when I see such a number of men 
about to be turned on the world, soured by penury, in- 
volved in debts, without one farthing to carry them home, 
after having spent the flower of their days, and many of 
them their patrimonies, in establishing the freedom and 
independence of tlieir country, and having suffered every 
thing which human nature is cajiable of enduring on this 
side of death. You may rely upon it, the patience and long 
sufferance of this army are almost exhausted, and there 
never was so great a spirit of discontent as at this instant," 
Mar. At this crisis an address, plausibly written, was privately 
circulated in the camp. It suggested to the officers and 
men the propriety of taking upon themselves to redress 
their grievances ; that they should intimidate Congres.*; 
and compel it to -pny their just demands. 



THE ANONYMOUS ADDRESSES. 513 

The address seems to have been the embodied senti- 
ments of some half dozen officers, although -written by 
Captain Armstrong, the son of General Armstrong of 
Pennsylvania. A call was issued for a meeting of the 
officers, but the next morning, in the regular orders for the 
day, Washington took occasion to disapprove of the meet- 
ing as a violation of discipline. He also named a day for 
the officers to assemble and hear the report of a committee 
of their number who had been sent to lay their demands 
before Congress. The next day a second anonymous ad- 
dress wa.? issued, but somewhat more moderate in tone 
than the first. The officers met according to appoint- 
ment, and Gates, being second in command, was made 
chairman of the meeting. Washington presently came in, 
made them a- soothing address, appealed to their patriotism 
and to their own fair fame in toiling for their country, and 
now were they willing . to tarnish their name or distrust 
their country's justice ? He pledged his word to use his 
influence with Congress to fulfil its promises. He then 
withdrew. The meeting passed resolutions which con- 
demned in severe terms the spirit of the anonymous ad- 
dress. 

Congress soon after resolved to accede to the proposi- 
tion of the officers, and change the promise of half pay for 
life, to that of full pay for five years. And also to advance 
to the soldiers full pay for four months. 

Tills was not the only instance in which the influence 
of Washington arrested plots designed to ruin the prospects 
of the 3-oung republic. The condition of the country was 
so desperate that many feared the States could not form a 
permanent government. At the suggestion of officers 
who thus thought, Lewis Nicola, a foreigner, a colonel in 
the Pennsylvania line, wrote Washington an elaborate 
letter, in which he discussed the expediency of establish- 
ing a monarchy, and finally offered him the crown. Wash- 
ington indignantly condemned the scheme. Said he • "I 
iJ3 



514 



HISTORY OF THE AlIEEICAN PEOPLE. 



X?xvrn *^^"'^^*' conceive what I have clone during my whole life, 

which could sause any one to imagine that I could euter- 

1783. tain such a proposition for a moment." 

When these facts became known, it was not strange 
that the people feared a standing army. 

Intelligence came at length of the signing of the treaty 
between the United States and Great Britain. Congress 
issued a proclamation giving the information to the nation. 
April On the 19th of April, precisely eight years from the battle 
of Lexington, the cessation of hostilities was proclaimed in 
the camp at Newburg. 

The soldiers of Burgoyne and Cornwallis were yet pris- 
oners, and had been marched to New York in order to be sent 
home. A general exchange of prisoners now took place. 
The prospects of the Tories were dreary indeed. The se- 
vere laws enacted against them were still in force, and now 
several thousand of them had assembled at New York, and 
were compelled to leave the country. The majority of 
them were wealthy. During the war many of them had 
held offices in the British service, and some had grown rich 
as merchants, landowners, and sutlers for the British army ; 
others, the unscrupulous, by privateering. Those who 
lived in the North emigrated to Canada and Nova Scotia, 
while those of the South went chiefly to the West India 
Islands. 

A clause was Inserted in the treaty which prohibited 
the carrying away of the slaves, large numbers of whom 
had fled to the British army during the campaigns in the 
Carolinas and Virginia. 

Carleton refused to comjdy with the demand, on the 
ground that it would be higl^ly dishonorable to deliver 
them up since they had sought protection under the Brit- 
ish flag. To secure their safety, he s.-nt them away among 
the very first, while at the same time he kejit an accurate 



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DISBANDMENT OF THE ARMY. 515 

list of their number, leaving to future negotiation indem- iSA.?;, 
nity for their loss. ■ 

These negroes, now liberated, were first taken to Nova 1783. 
Scotia ; afterward, a large number of them emigrated to 
Sierra Leone : " Their descendants, as merchants and 
traders, now constitute the wealthiest and most intelligent 
population of that African colony." 

Before the disbandment of the army, Washington ad- 
dressed a letter to the Governors of the several States, June, 
urging them to guard against the prejudices of one part of 
the country against another ; to encourage union among 
the States, and to make provision for the public debt. 

On the 3d of November the army was disbanded. ^°^- 
These patriot soldiers returned to their homes, to mingle 
with their fellow-citizens, and enjoy the blessings which 
their valor liad obtained for themselves and their posterity. 
From that day the title of revolutionary soldier has been a 
title of honor. 

Before the officers of the army finally separated, they 
formed a society known as the Cincinnati — a name de- 
rived from the celebrated farmer-patriot of Rome. The 
association was to be perpetuated chiefly through the 
eldest rnale descendants of the original members. But as 
this feature, in the eyes of many, seemed to favor an 
hereditary aristocracy, it was stricken out ; still the so- 
ciety continued to be to some parties an object of jealousy. 

As soon as preparations could be made, the British 

evacuated the few places occupied by their troops ; New 

York on the 25th of November, and Charleston in the fol- Nov 

. 35. 

lowing month. General Knox, with a small body of troops, 

and accompanied by Governor George Clinton and the 

State officers, entered New York as the British were leaving. 

A few days after, the officers of the army assembled at 

a public house to bid farewell to their beloved commander. Doc. 

Presently Washington entered ; his emotions were too 

strong to be concealed. After a moment's pause he said : 



516 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. " With a heart full of love and ffratitude, I now take leavo 

txxvui. 

'. of you ; I most devoutly wish that your latter days may 

1783. he as prosperous and happy, as your former ones have heen 
glorious and honorahle." He then added : " I cannot 
come to each of you to take my leave, but shall he obliged 
if each of you will come and take my hand." General 
Knox, being the nearest, turned to him. Washington, 
affected even to tears, grasped his hand and embraced him. 
In the same affectionate manner he took leave of each 
succeeding officer : " The tear of manly sensibility was in 
every eye ; not a word was spoken to interrupt the digni- 
fied silence and the tenderness of the scene. Leaving the 
room, he passed through the corps of light infantry, to the 
barge which was to convey him across the river. The 
whole company followed in mute and solemn procession, 
with dejected countenances, testifying to feelings of de- 
licious melancholy, which no language can describe. Hav- 
ing entered the barge, he turned to the company, and, 
waving his hat, bade them a silent adieu. They paid him 
the same affectionate compliment." ' 

On his way to Annapolis, where Congress was in 
session, he left with the controller at Philadelphia an ac- 
curate account of his expenses during the war ; they 
amounted to sixty-four thousand dollars. These accounts 
were in his own handwriting, and kept in the most perfect 
manner ; every charge made was accompanied by a men- 
tion of the occasion and object. 

In an interview with Congress, he made a short ad- 
dress. Said he : " The successful termination of the war 
has verified the most sanguine expectations ; and my 
P gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the as- 
25. sistance I have received from my countrymen, increases 
with every review of the momentous contest." Tlien 
recommending to the favorable notice of Congress the 

' Judge Marshall. 



WASHINGTON RESIGNS HIS COMMISSIOK. 517 

officers of his staif, and expressing his obligations to the jj'^ypf;, 

army in general, he continued : " I consider it as an in- 

dispensable duty to close this last act of luy official life, by 1783. 
commending the interests of our dearest country to the 
protection of Almighty Grod, and those who have the 
superintendence of them, to his holy keeping." 

" Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire 
from the great theatre of action, and, bidding an affection- 
ate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I 
have so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take 
my leave of all the employments of public life." 

The President of Congress, General Mifflin, who, in 
the darkest hour of the revolution, had favored the Con- 
way Cabal, replied : " Sir, the United States, in congress 
assembled, receive with emotions too affeciing for utter- 
ance, the solemn resignation of the authorities under which 
you have led their troops with success through a perilous 
and doubtful war. We join with you in commending the 
interests of our dearest country to the protection of Al- 
mighty God ; and for you, wc address to Him our earnest 
prayers, that a life so beloved may be fostered with all 
His care ; that yoifr days may be as happy as they have 
been illustrious ; and that he will finally give you that * 
reward which this world cannot give." Washington 
hastened to Mount Vernon, which he had not visited for 
eight years, except for a few hours while on his way against 
Cornwallis. 

Independence was at last attained, but at immense 1784. 
sacrifices. The calamities of war were visible in the ruins 
of burned towns, in the ravaged country, in the prostration 
of industry, and in the accumulation of debts. These 
amounted to one hundred and seventy millions of dollars — 
a sum enormous in proportion to the resources of the 
country — two-thirds of this debt had been contracted by 
Congress, and the remainder by the individual States. 



518 HISTORY OF THE AITEEICAN PEOPLE. 

^AP. These were evils, but there were still greater which 

came home to the domestic hearth. Frequently the mem- 

1784. bers of families had taken different sides, some were Whigs 
and some were Tories ; and that remorseless rancor which 
so often prevails in times of civil discord, extended through- 
out the land. It is pleasant to record, that in the course 
of a few years, a forgiving spirit among the people led to 
the repeal of the severe laws enacted against the Tories, 
and very great numbers of them repented of their mis- 
guided loyalty and returjied to their native land. 

On the conclusion of peace the English merchants, 
alive to their interests, flooded the States with manufac- 
tured goods at very reduced prices. This operation ruined 
the domestic manufactures, which the non-importation 
association, and necessities of the war had created and 
cherished, drained the country of its specie, and involved 
the merchants and people in debt. This poverty was fol- 
lowed by discontent, which prevailed more or less, and 
excited disturbances in several of the States. 
1780. In Massachusetts a thousand men assembled at Wor- 

•25. cester, under the leadership of Daniel Shays, and forced 
• the Supreme Court to adjourn, to prevent its issiung writs 
for the collection of debts. 

Governor Bowdoin called out the militia, which was 
put under the command of General Lincoln, who in a few 
...„_ weeks suppressed the outbreak. It was evident, however, 
Jan. that there was among the people a strong feeling of sym- 
pathy with the insurgents, for the vast majority of them- 
selves labored under similar grievances. 

This distress was overruled for good. It was the 
means of brinsing: all the States to view with favor a union 
under the same constitution, and thus form a government 
which shotild have power to act for the good of the whole 
country. 

The States made trial of independent governments. 



CLASHING INTERESTS — RIVAL PORTS. 519 

but after an experiment of three or four years the result ^^J^ 

proved unsatisfactory. This was especially the case in re- 

lation to the subjects of legislatiou which concerned the 1787. 
whole country ; such as the regulation of commerce, the 
common defence, the adjustment of controversies between 
one State and another, and making of treaties with other 
nations. 

These difficulties were increasing — many interests 
clashed. Some of the States passed laws which con- 
flicted with those of their sisters ; since the close of the 
war, commerce had increased very rapidly, but American 
merchants were still excluded by the British from the 
West India trade. They complained to Congress, but 
the States had not yet conceded authority to that body, 
to regulate commerce or to legislate for the whole country. 

Some States had good harbors, and imported merchan- 
dise upon which duties were imposed at the expense of 
their neighbors ; and ports competed with each other by 
lowering the rate of imports. Thus there were rival ports 
on the Delaware ; and Maryland and Virginia competed 
with each other for the trade of the Chesapeake, while 
New Jersey and Connecticut weie laid under contribution 
by their neighbors of New York and Massachusetts. No 
State could protect itself by retaliation against the restric- 
tions of foreign countries, as the attempt would throw its 
own trade into the hands of a sister rival. 

Efforts were made to obviate these evils, and those 
States bordering on the waters of the Chesapeake and 
Potomac sent delegates to a convention held at Alexan- 
dria, to establish a uniform tariff of duties on the mer- 
chandise brought into their ports. This led to corre- 
spondence between the prominent men of the country and 
the legislatures. Another convention was held at An- 
napolis, to which there were representatives from only five 
States ; finally, the people elected delegates to meet in 



320 HISTOKT OF THE AMEEICAK PEOPLE. 

sxxviii ^'^^"^^ntion in Philadelphia, to revise the Articles of Cou- 

federation. 

1787. On the 14th of May, the members of the Convention 

met in the State House, in Philadelphia, in the same ball 
where the Declaration of Independence was made. Wash- 
ington, who, since the war, had lived in retirement at 
Mount Vernon, appeared as a delegate. He was unani- 
mously chosen President of the Convention.. 

The Convention resolved to sit with closed doors ; not 
even a transcript of their minutes was permitted to be 
made public. The articles of the old confederation, found 
to be very defective, were thrown aside, and the Conven- 
tion addressed itself to framing an independent con- 
stitution. 

There were present aboiit fifty delegates, representa- 
tives from eleven different States, all of whom had the 
confidence of their fellow-citizens, and were distinguished 
^^ tor their intellectual and moral worth and experience in 
public affairs. Some had been members of the Stamp 
Act Congress in 1765, some of the Continental Congress 
in 1774, and some were also among the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence. Conspicuous was tha 
venerable Dr. Franklin, now in his eightieth year, wiio, 
^ thirty years before, at a convention at Albany, had pro- 

posed a plan of union for the colonies. 

The various disturbances in different parts of the land 
had shaken the faith of many in the power of the mul- 
titude to govern themselves. Said Elbridge Gerry, in the 
Convention : " All the evils we exjjerience flow from an 
excess of democracy. The people do not want virtue, but 
are under the dupes of pretended patriots ; they are daily 
misled into the most baleful measures of opinions." 

It was necessary to have a central government, which 
could give security to all the States, and at the same time 
not conflict in its powers with their rights. 

It was found very di.^ficult to arrange satisfactorily th<3 



THE CONSTITUTION COMPLETED. 521 

representation in the two branches of the proi)Osed govern- i^l^?;, 

ment. The smaller States were alarmed, lest their rights 

would he infringed upon by the overwhelming majoritj- of 1787. 
members coming from the larger ones. This difficulty 
was removed by constituting the Senate, in which the 
States were represented equally without reference to their 
population ; each being entitled to two members, while in 
the House of Representatives the States were to he repre- 
sented in proportion to their population. 

After four months of labor, during which every article 
was thoroughly discussed, the Constitution was finished 
and signed by all the members present, with the excei^tion 
of three ; Gerry, of Massachusetts, George Mason and 
Edmund Randolph, of Virginia. This result was not ob- 
tained without much discussion ; at one time, so adverse 
were opinions that it was apprehended the Convention 
would dissolve, leaving its work unfinished. It was then 
that Franklin proposed they should choose a chaplain to 
open their sessions by prayer. Said he : "I have lived a 
long time ; and the longer I live the more convincing 
proofs I see of this truth, that God governs the affairs of 
men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without 
his notice, is it possible that an empire can rise without 
his aid ? " 

The Convention presented the Constitution thus 
framed to Congress, and that body submitted it to the 
people of the States for their approval or rejection. 

It was a document of compromises; probably not a 
member of the Convention was pei-fectly satisfied with it. 
There were three prominent compromises ; the first, the 
equal representation in the Senate, a concession to the 
smaller States ; the second, that in the enumeration of 
the inhabitants three-fifths of the slaves were to be in- 
cluded in determining the ratio of representation in the 
lower house of Congress ; a concession to the slavuholders ; 



522 HISTOKT OF THE AilEKICAN PEOPLE. 

mm ^^^ ^^^^ ^'"'''^' pei-mission, till 1808, to the States of 

Georgia aud South Carolina, to receive slaves imported 

1787. from Africa, as the delegates from those two States re- 
fused to sign the Constitution except on that condition. 
The great desire to secure the moral power of a unanimous 
vote of the members of the Convention in favor of their 
own work, alone obtained this concession. 

In less than a year after the Constitution was submitted 
to the people, it was adopted by all the States, except 
North Carolina and Ehode Island, and by them in less 
than two years. 

This ratification of the Constitution was not brought 
about without a struggle. The subject was discussed in 
conventions and in the legislatures, and in the newspapers. 
The States were for a time unwilling to resign any of their 
sovereignty to a Federal or Central go\ernment. 

Many elaborate essays, collectively known as the 
Federalist, were written by Alexander Hamilton, Jay, 
and Madison, in favor of its adoption. These essays had 
an immense influence upon the leading minds of the 
country ; aud these in turn greatly influenced the popular 
will. 

It shows the practical wisdom of those who framed the 
Constitution, that in the application of its principles for 
almost three quarters of a century, it has been found 
necessary to change or modify only very few of its ar- 
ticles. 

While the Convention which framed the Constitution 
was in session in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress in 
.Tuly New York passed a bill " for the government of the Terri- 
tory north-west of the Ohio." That region had been ceded to 
the United States by the States of Massachusetts, Connec- 
ticut, New Yorlc and Virginia. In this bill were introduced 
provisions securing the exercise of religious freedom, and 
for the encouragement of schools, and also the jjroviso that 
" there shall be neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude 



ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATIONS. 523 

in said territory, otherwise than in punishment for crime." ^^4^;, 

Tbe region soutli of the Ohio was to be afterward regu- 

lated. Three years before Thomas Jefferson had intrn- 1784. 
duced a bill, and urged its passage with all his influence, 
to exclude slavery not only from the territory then held 
by the United States, but from all which should thereafter 
be ceded to Congress by the resjpective States. This bill 
failed by only a few votes. 

The people, though thus engaged in moulding their 
political institutions, did not neglect to conform their sys- 
tems of ecclesiastical government to the new order of 
things. The Revolution had changed the relation of the 
religious denominations to the State. In New England) 
Congregationalism was the established religion, and every 
citizen was required to aid in the support of some church. 
In all the southern colonies the Episcopal Church was 
equally favored, and partially so in New York and New 
Jersey. Only in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Dela- 
ware, were all the Protestant sects on an equality, as to 
their religious rights. 

The Episcopal Church was more disorganized than any 
other. It had hitherto been attached to the diocese of 
the Bishop of London, but now that authority was not 
recognized. 

As yet there was no American bishop, and no means 
to obtain the consecration of any clergyman to that office, 
except by English bishops. Accordingly the Reverend 
Samuel Seabury, of Connecticut, at the request of the 
Episcopalians of that State, visited England to obtain or- 
dination as a bishop. But the English bishops were pre- 
vented by law of Parliament from raising any one to that 
dignity, who did not take the oaths of allegiance, and ac- 
knowledge the King as head of the Church. Seabury then 
applied to the non-juring bishops of the Episcopal Church 
of Scotland, by whom he was ordained. Some Episco- 



524 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

<^HAP. palians, however, were not satisfied witli an ordination at 

the hands of the Scottish bishops. 

1787. 

A convention of delegates, from several States, met 
and formed a constitution for the " Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States of America." After some 
revision this constitution was adopted by conventions in 
the separate States. Titles were changed in order to con- 
form to republicanism ; such as " Ijord Bishop," and all 
such as were " descriptive of temporal power and prece- 
dency." The Liturgy for the same reason was modified. 
A friendly letter was addressed to the English bishops, re- 
questing at their hands ordination of American bishops. 
An Act of Parliament gave the desired authority, and 
William White, of Philadclpliia, Samuel Provost, of New 
York, and James Madison, of Virginia, were thus ordained. 
Soon after these ordinations, a General Convention ratified 
the constitution, and the oiganization of the Episcopal 
Church in the United States was complete. 

About this time came Thomas Coke, as superintend- 
ent or bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He 
had been an able laborer with Wesley, by whom he was 
ordained to that office. This sect spread very rapidly, 
especially in the south ; in that section of the country 
were a great many vacant parishes, which belonged to 
the Episcopal Church, numbers of whose clergymen left 
the country during the troubles of the Revolution. At 
this time the denomination did not number more than 
ninety preachers, and fifteen thousand members. 

The institutions of the Congregational and Presby- 
terian Churches required no change to adapt them to the 
new order of things. 

The Presbyterians took measures to organize their 
1788. Church government on a national basis. Four Synods 
were formed out of the Synod of New York and Philadel- 
phia. A General Assembly, composed of delegates from 



THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. 525 

all the Presbyteries of tl.e land, was authorized to meet ipJl^qj, 
annually. 

Soon after the treaty of peace with England, the l''*'^- 
Pope's Nuncio at Paris made overtures to Congress, 
through Doctor Franklin, on the suhject of appointing a 
Vicar Apostolic or bishop for the United States. On the 
ground that the subject was purely spiritual, and there- 
fore beyond its jurisdiction. Congress refused to take any 
part in the matter. The Pope then appointed as liis vicar 
apostolic, John Carroll, a brother of Charles Carrol!, of 
Carrollton ; the same was afterward raised to the dignity 
of Archbishop of the Koman Catholic Church in the 
United States. 

Almost immediately after the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence the Presbytery of Hanover, in Virginia, address- 
ed a memorial to the House of Assembly, in which they 
petitioned for the separation of church and state. They ^''^fi. 
preferred that the gos^iel should be supported by the free 
gifts of its friends ; they asked no aid from the civil 
power to maintain their own churches, and were unwilling 
that any denomination should thus be favored. The 
movement thus commenced was ardently seconded by the 
Baptists and Quakers, who petitioned the Assembly to 
the same effect. These petitions were met by counter- 
memorials from the Episcopalians and Methodists, who 
urged in behalf of the Establishment, that it was a system 
which "possessed the nature of a vested right, and ought 
to be maintained inviolate." 

The separation of church and state soon became a 
prominent question in Virginia. Jefferson took an im- 
portant part in the animated contest, but the most effective 
was the united influence of those who first opposed the 
establishment, and who never relaxed their efforis till the 
churches were declared independent of the civil power, and 
every colonial law interfering with the religious rights of 
the people was swept away. 



526 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



x\YvuJ '^^^ example thus set by Virginia was not without its 

influence ; the union of church and state was dissolved 

1788. in the other States soon after the close of the Revolution, 
except in Connecticut and Massachusetts, where the sys- 
tem was retained many years longer.' 

' Hildreth, Vol. III. Dr. Hawks' Contributions to Ecclesiastical History 
of the U. S. Dr. Baird'e Religion iu America. 






tJt 



'■^^^yryu.'^^-^ <J. Te-3-^o^vffr^ Ooi 






^^ €l^£"/\ „ A. ^rC^ / 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

The Exception apd Inauguration of the President. — An Era in hu'nan pro- 
gress. —The Dopartments of State org:inized. — Ilaniiltou's Financial 
Report. — Congress Assumes the Debts of the Nation. — The National 
Bank.— Commereiul Enterprise. — Manui'acti:res. — Indian War. — Har- 
mer"s Kepulse. — St. Clair defeated. — Wayne defeats the Indians. — Po- 
litical Parties. — Jefferson. — The French Revolution. — Genet arrives as 
French Minister. — War between France and England. — Neutrality pro- 
claimed by the President. — Partisans of France. — Arrogant proceed- 
iTigs of Genet. — The Whiskey Insiwrection. — Special Mission to Great 
Biitain. — A Treaty concluded. — Its Ratification. — Other Treaties. — . 
Washington's Farewell Address. — The PoHcy of the Government 
estabhshed. 

When two-fhirds of the States had adopted the Fed- Syjijc 

eral Constitution, it hecame the law of the land. The 

Continental Congress — that body so I'emarkable in its 1789. 
origin, in what it had accomplished, and now about to 
pass out of existence — ordained that tlie new government 
should go into operation on the 4th of March, and also 
designated the city of New York as the place where the 
National Congress should hold its sessions. The same au- 
thority also named the tiire for electing the President and 
Vice-President, according to the manner prescribed in the 
Constitution. 

The hearts of the American people were turned to 
one man. George Washington was unanimously chosen 
the first President of the Republic. John Adams received 
the next highest number of votes, and was elected Vice- 



528 HISTORy OF THE AMEPlICAJT PEOPLE. 

CHAP. President. Charles Thompson, the old Secretary of Con- 

! gress, was sent to Mount Vernon to inform "Washington 

1789. of his election, and another messenger to Boston, tb inform 
Adams of his. The latter had just returned- fVom a resi- 
dence of nine years in Europe, where he had beeif engaged 
in public business ; he immediately set out to enter upon 
the duties of his office. As a mark of respect, he was 
escorted by a troop of horse through Massachusetts and 
Connecticut, and was met at the New York State line, 
and in a similar manner attended to the city. 

Washington wished to travel to New York in as 
private a manner as possible. But enthusiasm and re- 
spect, drew the people in crowds to see and honor him. 
The authorities of the States through which he passed, 
vied with each other in testifying their regard. The most 
graceful reception, and no doubt to him the most grateful, 
was the one be received at Trenton. As he came (o the 
bridge, over which, twelve years before, on the eve of tho 
■ battle of Princeton, he retreated with bis weary and dis- 
heartened soldiers, hu found it spanned by a triuuiplial 
arch bearing the inscription : " The Defender of tlio 
Mothers will be the Protector of the Daughters." Herc 
were assembled a company of matrons and yoimg girls, 
dressed in white, with baskets of flowers in tlieir hands. 
As he approached they began to sing an appropriate ode, 
v/rittcn for the occasion. At the close of the line, " strew 
your hero's way with flowers," they suited the action to 
the sentiment by strewing the flowers before him. At 
Elizabethport he was met by a committee of both Houses 
of Congress, and the heads of departments, 'and received 
on board a barge, magnificently decorated, and manned 
by thirteen pilots in appropriate uniforms. The barge 
was accompanied by a numerous cortege of boats filled 
with citizens. Welcomed to the city, amidst the salutes 
of artillery from the ships in the harbor, American as well 
as foreign, and from the battery, he was conducted to 



INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON. 



529 



1789. 



the house prepared for his reception, hy Governor George '^^^^^ 
ChntoD, the State officers, and a numerous concourse of 
people. 

On the morning of the 30th of April, at 9 o'clock, the 
churches were opened for religious services and prayer. A 
little after the hour of noon, on the balcony of the Federal 
Hall, on the site of the present Custom House, in the 
presence of a vast concourse of people in the streets, the 
oath of office was administered to the President elect, by ^P''" 
Eobert R. Livingston, Chancellor of New York. At the 
close of tlie ceremony the Chancellor exclaimed : " Long 
live George Washington, President of the United States ! " 
The assembled multitude responded to the sentiment. 

The members of both Houses returned to the Senate 
chamber, where the President delivered an inaugural ad- 
dress, replete with wisdom and with sentiments designed 
to harmonize the discordant opinions which prevailed, and 
with renewed expressions of gratitude to Heaven for the 
favor granted the joeople of America, in all their struggles. 
Then he closed by announcing that he would receive no 
remuneration for his services, only asking that his ex- 
penses might be paid. The members of Congress, ac- 
companied by the President, then went in procession to 
St. Paul's church, where, led by Bishop Provost, the 
Chaplain of the Senate, they implored the blessing of the 
King of nations upon the government just inaugurated. 

The youthful nation was about to assume the powers 
of self-government, under circumstances never before wit- 
nessed in the history of man ; to throw off the useless 
in forms and systems, retain what was valuable, and com- 
mence a new era in human progress. The people them- 
selves established their own government ; its Coustitvition 
was framed to secure their own welfare, and not to make 
the State great at their expense. They had learned this 
of their fathers. In English history all the great advances 
in securing the enjoyment of human rights, from the day 
34 ' ' • 



530 



HISTOKT OF THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 



™AP. on -whicli Alagna Charta was given, to the Declaration of 
— , — Independence, had tended to protect the rights of the 
iTsn. subject — the individual man — and now this principle, un- 
trammelled by clogging forms, was to be carried out. The 
individual man was to be pre-eminent ; the State only his 
instrument, the mere machine of his own contriving, de- 
signed and moulded from time to time to protect his civil 
and religious privileges. In the great empires of the Old 
World, the empire was eveiy thing ; the people nothing. 
Now the people were to be every thing ; henceforth they were 
to be the fountain of power and influence. Ancient Greece 
and Kome had their civilization, their literature, their 
art, their liberty t but they failed ; they had no elevating 
principle like Christianity to permeate and influence the 
people, penetrate their inmost life, and dignify the hum- 
blest by bringing into exercise the noblest attributes ot 
their nature. A Christianized civilization ; the recog- 
nition of man's dearest rights ; an open field for individual 
enterprise ; attachment to institutions under whose ample 
shield protection was secured to all, were so many pledges 
of the ultimate success of a people thus governed. 
• The new government had before it a difficult task to 
arrange the various departments of State ; to obtain 
revenue, and pay off the national debt. Three executive 
departments were created, the presiding officers of which 
were styled secretaries — the Treasury, War, including 
that of the Navy, and Foreign Affairs. These secretaries, 
the President, with the concurrence of the Senate, could 
appoint to office, or dismiss from the same. They were 
to constitute his cabinet or council ; and when requested 
by him, were bound to give in writing their opinions on 
the subject under discussion. A judiciary for the nation 
was established, under the title of the Supreme Court of 
the United States, having subordinate Circuit and District 



-■o 



courts. Washington nominated Alexander Hamilton, 



-"o 



Secretaiy of the Treasury ; General Knox, Secretary of 



THE FIRST SESSION OF THE FIRST CONGRESS. 531 

War ; Thomas Jefferson, Secretary for Foreign Affiiirs ; ^^'^i 
John Jay, Chief Justice of the United States, and Edmund 1— — 
Randolph, Attorney-G-eneral. 1789. 

The first session cf Congress, a laborious one of six 
months, was spent in organizing the government. It 
shows the spirit of the times, that before they adjourned 
Congress passed a resolution, requesting the President to 
recommend a " day of public thanksgiving and prayer, in 
acknowledgment of the many signal favors of Almighty 
Grod, and especially his affording the people an oppor- 
tunity peaceably to establish a constitution of government 
for their safety and happiness." 

In January, tbe second session of the First Congress 1790 
commenced. The President, instead of sending a written 
message, as is now the custom, made to both Houses, as- 
sembled in the Senate chamber, an address. He directed 
their attention to the public defence ; to the encourage- 
ment of agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and litera- 
ture ; to the enactment of naturalization laws, and espe- 
cially to the payment of the national debt. These various 
heads of business were referred to committees. During 
this session the official intercourse between the heads of 
departments and the Houses of Congress took the form of 
written communications. 

Hamilton made his celebrated financial report, in which 
he recommended certain measures for obtaining revenue 
to defray the current expenses of the Government and pay 
off the national debt. This debt was in the form of cer- 
tificates or notes of obligation to pay for value received. 
During the war they had been issued by the States as 
well as by Congress, to persons who furnished supplies to 
the army, and lor other services. Congress assumed these 
debts, and also the foreign debt. The expenses of two 
distinct governments — the Federal and that of the separate 
States — were to be borne. The revenue could be derived 
inly from taxes on property. As the control of commerce 



532 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

f'HAP. liad been transferred to Congress by the States it was 

titting that the revenue derived from the tax or duty levied 

1790. on imjjorted merchandise should be approjiriated to tlie 
support of the Federal Government, while that arising 
from real estate and other sources, should be assigned to 
the use of the States. Hamilton proposed, and the gov- 
ernment adopted the system of indirect taxation by rais- 
ing revenue from the duties thus imposed ; and to meet a 
certain deficiency at the time, an excise, or tax on the 
manufacture of domestic spirits. 

Near the close of this session, Congress, after much dis- 
cussion, passed a bill to locate the seat of tlie General 
Government on the banks of the Potomac, and authorized 
the President to select the spot within certain limits, and 
to make arrangements for the erection of suitable build- 
ings. UDtil these sliould be ready for occupation, its ses- 
sions were to be held in Philadelphia, at which place, ac- 
Der. cordingly, the second Congress began its first session. 

The President congratulated the members on the in- 
creasing prosperity of the country, and the unexpected 
success in obtaining revenue. On the recommendation of 
Hamilton, Congress gave a charter for twenty years for a 
National Bank, with the privilege to establish branches in 
any of the States. The capital of the Bank was ten mil- 
lions, of which the government took two millions, and in- 
dividuals the remainder. The Bank was as beneficial to 
the government as it was to the commercial interests of 
the country. Its bills were payable in gold or silver when 
presented at its counter.s. This feature had a decided 
effect ; it raised the credit of the General Government, 
and inspired confidence in the commercial world. Tiie 
first census, just taken, showed the population of the States 
to be almost four millions. 

By assuming the debts contracted by the States in 
the defence of their common liberties, Congress had simply 
performed an act of justice ; provision was made to pay 



1702. 



COMMERCIAL ENTEHPRISE DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES. 533 

the iutuie.^t, and also in time to liquidate the debts them- Ty^S- 
selves. The duties imposed upon imports to raise revenue, — — 
had also a beneficial effect upon the struggling manufac- l^'JO. 
tures of the country. The mutual confidence between the 
States and the Federal Government, produced a like in- 
fluence upon the minds of the people ; their industry was 
encouraged, and their commerce extended. American 
merchantmen were seen on almost every sea ; some sailed 
to the north-west coast of the continent, where, in ex- 
change for trinkets, they obtained furs ; these they barter- 
ed for cargoes in China, and these again they sold at home 
at an immense profit ; while others were as busily employ- 
ed in the trade to the East and West Indies, and to Eu- 
rope. About this time Captain Gray, of Boston, returned 
from a voyage around the world — the first ever made by 
an American. On his second voyage he discovered, and 
to a certain extent, explored the Columbia river. 

Though the Revolution broke the fetters with which 
English cupidity had bnund the domestic manufactures 
of the colonies, still there were innumerable difiSculties in 
the way. A coarse fabric, known as linsey-woolsey, and 
dyed in various colors, derived from the bark of trees in 
the forest, comprised almost entirely the extent of domes- 
tic cloths. At the town of Beverly, in Massachusetts, was 
established the first factory for making cotton cloth. " The 1788. 
patriotic adventurers" were not very successful in their 
enterprise, though they had machines that could " card 
forty pounds of cotton in a day, and spin sixty threads at 
a time." Newburyjiort has the honor of having the first 
factory for making woollen cloths, and two years later an 
establishment for printing calico. These crude efforts 
were not very successful, but they were the harbingers of 
future triumphs. 

Sir Richard Arkwright improved upon a machine in- 
vented by a poor man named Highs, who called it a 
•' Jenny, ' in honor of his daughter, and who, amid many 



]794, 



534 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

9^j^- discouragements, and the jeers of his ignorant neighbors, 

contrived to spin a dozen threads of cotton at a time. 

1794. He turned his machine by hand ; Arkwright arranged it 
to be driven by water-power. Samuel Slater, " the fathei 
of American manufactures," a native of Derbyshire, an 
apprentice of Arkwright's partner, made himself familiar, 
not merely with the use of the machine, but with the 
construction of the machines themselves. The British 
government did every thing in its piower to retain the 
knowledge of the invention within the kingdom. Slater 
resolved to emigrate to America, and there introduce this 
art of spinning cotton. He landed at New York, but not 
meeting with encouragement, he went to FJiode Island, 

1T90. and at Pawtucket put in operation sixty-two spindles on 
the Arkwright principle. Sixteen years later he was join- 
ed by his brother, John Slater, who brought with him the 
recent improvements in the art. 

In the valley of the Ohio, Indian troubles were on the 
increase. The British neglected to give up the Western 
posts according to the treaty, but retained them with their 
small garrisons. The Indians became restless, and oc- 
casionally made incursions against the frontier settlements, 
especially those in Kentucky. It was surmised that 

Oct. British emissaries had excited them to these outrages. 

The year previous they had repulsed General Harmer, 
who had been sent against them, and this success increas- 
ed their boldness. General St. Clair, now Governor of the 
North-west Territory, was appointed to the command of 
another expedition against them. In the mean time vol- 
unteers from Kentucky made desultory expeditions into 
the wilderness north of the Ohio. They attacked all the 
Indians they met, friendly or unfriendly, but the latter 
generally kept out of their way ; to bum empty wigwams, 
and destroy cornfields, only exasperated the savages more 

1791. and more. 



INDIAN WAR ST. CLAIE'S DEFEAT. 535 

It was the middle of September before St. Clair, with SS^j'^: 

an army of about two thousand men, began his march . 

from Fort Washington, the little stockade fort on the site I'i'Mi- 
of the present city of Cincinnati. It 'Was his object to 
open a way, and establish a line of posts from the Ohio to 
the Maum(«, and there build and garrison a strong fort, 
as a check upon the marauding Indians. Two of these 
posts he had already estabUshed. The militia who joined 
the army from Kentucky, were insubordinate, and, as the 
army could move but very slowly in cutting its way 
through the wilderness, they grew impatient, and finally 
numbers of them returned home. The Chickasaw warriors 
also deserted, and his force was reduced to fourteen hundred Nov. 
men. When he reached the head-waters of the Wabash, 
his army was surprised by Little Turtle, a celebrated 
Miami chief, and the Indians, who had hitherto contrived 
to keep out of sight. The militia tied immediately, and 
threw the regulars into confusion, who could not regain 
their ordtjr, nor sustain the attack. St. Clair was in his 
tent prostrated by illness and not able to mount his horse, 
and when Colonel Butler fell, the army commenced its 
retreat, or rather flight, abandoning every thing. For- 
tunately, plunder had more attractions for the savages 
than pursuit of the fugitives. The remnant of the army 
returned to Fort Washington, and the whole frontier was 
again defenceless. St. Clair resigned his command, and 
the President appointed General Wayne, whom we have 
seen so daring in the battles of the Revolution, to lead 
the next expedition ; for the sake of connection the ac- 
count of this will be given here. 

An attempt was made to negotiate a peace, but with- 
out success ; in the mean while Wayne was at Fort 
Washington, earnestly engaged in recruiting and organ- 1794. 
izing his army. With his usual energy he pushed his 
forces rapidly forward to the scene of St. Clair's defeat, juua, 
and there built a fort which he named Recovery. This 



536 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

vv m ^"'* *^^ Indians besieged for two days, but were at length 

driven off. Six weeks after he suddenly marched to the 

1794. Maumee. The Indians were taken by surprise. They 
took position amidst some fallen timber, prostrated by a 
hurricane, in order to avoid the cavalry, of which they had 
a great fear. Wayne ordered the infantry to charge with 
Aug. the bayonet through the timber. The Indians were im- 
■^ ■ mediately routed, and scattered in all directions. The 
fertile valleys of the neighborhood were covered with 
cornfields ; these fields of grain were destroyed up to the 
very gates of the British fort, which Wayne could scarcely 
restrain his army from attacking. Thus, in a campaign 
of ninety days, he had marched three hundred miles, the 
greater part of the road cut by the army, had completely 
broken the Indian power, destroyed their provisions for 
the next winter, and established a full garrisoned fort in 
JSTov. the midst of their country. He now returned to Green- 
ville, on the Miami, to winter-quarters. 

The following summer eleven hundred warriors, repre- 
sentatives from the western tribes, met Wayne at that 
\j'^- place and made a treaty which secured peace to the fron- 
tier. Their friends the British were about to evacuate the 
western posts, and they found it more to their advantage 
to submit. They ceded at this time nearly all the terri- 
tory of what is now the State of Ohio, for which they were 
'paid. For twenty years the Indians had made incursions 
into Kentucky, and during that time they had carried 
off a great number of captives. By this treaty all these 
captives were to be restored to their friends. It was a 
moving spectacle to see parents endeavoring to find their 
children, who, years before, had been taken from their 
homes, some of them had forgotten their native language, 
some preferred to stay with their savage captors rather 
than return to civilized life. Many husbands and wives 
who had been separated for years, were restored to each 
other. 



CONFLICT OF OPINIONS JEFFEESON. 537 

The conflict of opinions, in regard to the adoption of '^^j'^ 

the Constitution, had created two parties ; the Federal- 

1st and the Anti-Federalist : the one, the administration 1V!)2. 
and its friends ; the other, those opposed to its policy. As 
the Constitution became more and more popidar, opposi- 
tion was specially made to Hamilton's management of the 
financial afi"airs of the government. Time has proved the 
wisdom of his policy, which has continued, in the main, 
to be that of the government from that day to this. 

" He was made Secretary of the Treasury ; and how 
he fulfilled the duties of such a place, at such a time, the 
whole country perceived with delight, and the whole world 
saw with admiration. He smote the rock of the national 
resources, and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. 
He touched the dead corpse of the Public Credit, and it 
sprang upon its feet." ' 

In this opposition Jefferson, the Secretary of State, per- 
formed a secret but active part. Having been some years 
in France, as American Minister, he had returned home 
thoroughly imbued with French politics. He disliked 
Adams almost as much as he did Hamilton, and he seems 
to have been haunted with the idea that these two mem- 
bers of the cabinet were, in disguise, either monarchists or 
aristocrats ; that they were devising plans to change the 
republican form of the government ; and that Washing- 
ton was misled by them. He noticed and recorded every 
remark which seemed to him suspicious, made by these 
gentlemen, when in the hours of unreserved social inter- 
course. While ostensibly the friend of Washington and 
his administration, he was in communication with the op- 
position, and diffusing his opinions in his private corre- 
spondence. Measures, which at one time he himself had 
approved, he now feared might have lurking in them some 
latent principle which might lead to the establishment of 

' Daniel Webster. 



538 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

xxxa * ™oii'ii'cliy- His party thought it expedient to repudiata 

the Dcame, Aiitl-Federalists, and assume that of Republi- 

1793. CAN, at the same time proclaiming they were the only 
true friends of the people. An incessant warfare com- 
menced against the policy of the government, accompanied 
with scurrilous abuse of the President. 

The assumption of the State debts ; the national 
bank ; the manner of raising the revenue ; the funding 
system, by which provision was made to pay the interest 
on the national debt, were, in the eyes of the opposition, 
so many cunningly-devised plans to create fiiends among 
the rich, and in the end subvert the liberties of the country. 
The public interest demanded it, and after much so- 
licitation from the leading members of the government, 
Washington consented to serve for a second term. He 
was unanimously chosen. Adams was re-elected Vice- 
President ; he receiving seventy-seven electoral votes, and 
George Clinton, of New York, fifty. 



1789. 



Two months and a half after the first inauguration of 
Washington as President, a bloody revolution broke out 
in France. The people of the United States looked with 
much interest ui^on the French people struggling for 
liberty. But it was soon evident that the state of the 
nation's morals, political as well as jjrivate, forbade the 
success of the French republic. The remembrance of the 
alliance with France, by which they had received aid in 
the time of need, elicited the sympathy of the American 
people. The republican party wished to form an alliance 
with the new Kepublic, while Washington, and the ma- 
jority of his cabinet, as well as the more judicious states- 
men, were in favor of neutrality. The unheard-of cruel- 
ties, which, in the name of liberty, bad been practised in 
France for a year or two, had cooled the zeal of many. 
One party had succeeded by guillotining the leaders of its 
rival ; the amiable Louis, who had aided the Americana 



NEUTEALITY PROCLAIMED — CITIZEN GENET. 539 

in their struggle for liberty, had been murdered by his ^^^f.; 

subjects ; and Lafayette was forced to flee. Strange that 

such " excesses and horrible butcheries " found apologists 1^93. 
in the United States. ' 

While the public mind was thus divided, came Ed- 
mond Charles Genet or " Citizen Genet " as he was 
styled, as minister of the French Republic. He brought 
the intelligence that France had declared war against 
England. Now the opposition, urged on by their hatred 
to the latter power, wished to enter into an alliance with 
France, and thus involve the country in war. But Wash- 
ington and his cabinet, in spite of these clamors, promptly 
proclaimed neutrality as the policy of the United States, 
and also warned the people not to commit acts inconsist- 
ent with the proclamation of neutrality, nor with the 
strictest impartiality towards the belligerents. The wis- 
dom of the Government saved the country from a mul- 
titude of evils. 

Genet took advantage of the sympathy manifested for 
France by a portion of the American people, and began 
to fit out privateers against English commerce. This 
was an insult to the dignity of the government, and a 
violation of the proclaimed neutrality. But the parti- 
sans of France were determined that the country should be 
committed to an alliance with the great sister Eepublic 
in the old world. 

About this time numerous societies, modelled after the 
famous Jacobin clubs in Paris, began to be formed in 
various parts of the Union. The more ultra assumed the 
title of Democratic, while others preferred to call them- 
selves Democratic Eepublican. They made strenuous 
efforts to influence the public mind in favor of French 
politics, and drive the government from its determination 
not to interfere in the quarrels of Europe. The President 
and his policy were assailed in terms of unmeasured abuse. 
The principal organ of this abuse was the Gazette news- 



540 HISTORY OF THE AilEKTCAN PEOPLE, 

CHAP, paper, edited by Philip Freneau, who at this time was em- 
'. ployed by Jefferson as translating clerk. 



1793. The Eepublican newspapers continued to accuse the 

President and his cabinet of being enemies of France, the 
only friend of the United States, and of being friends of 
England, the bitter enemy of American liberties. 

Genet mistook the clamors of a few for the sentiments 
of the majority of the people. He now had the audacity 
to authorize the French consuls in the ports of the United 
States to receive and sell prizes taken from the English, 
with whom we were at peace. He had also other jirojects 
in view, one to raise men in the Carolinas and Georgia and 
wrest Florida from Spain, another to raise men in Ken- 
tucky and make an attack on Louisiana. 

In his correspondence with the government he became 
more and more insolent, imputed improper motives to its 
members, till finally the President transmitted his letters 
to Gouvei'neur Morris, American minister at Paris, with 
directions to lay them before the Executive Council — and 
request his recall. 

When Genet received the information of this pro- 
cedure he was thunderstruck. He charged Jefferson with 
insincerity, as " having an official lauguage and a lan- 
ffuage confidential." 

Though sympathizing with France in her struggles 
for liberty, but not in her atrocious excesses, the great 
majority of the people, when informed of the true state of 
the case, began to hold meetings and express their appro- 
bation of the measures adopted by the President, to 
prevent liis country from being embroiled in European 
quarrels. 

In due time Morris presented the request that Genet 
should be recalled ; but another change had occurred in 
France. The management of affairs had passed into the 
hands of the Jacobins ; the Eeign of Terror had com- 
menced. Genet was unceremoniously recalled, and Mr 



FIRST SETTLERS OF WKSTEEN PENNSYLVANIA. 541 



Fauclict appointed in bis i>lace. Genet did not return ™^^ 
home, but became a citizen of the United States. 

Through much toil and danger had the fertile valleys Fi''"n 
of the Monongahela and its tributaries been settled. The Hos 
pioneers were princijially Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, from to 
eastern Pennsylvania and Virginia. Their trials were as ^'^*- 
great as those of the early colonists. At first their 
families lived in blockhouses or forts, through fear of the 
Indians, while they, as they cleared the forest or tilled the 
soil, were always armed ; they even carried their rifles in 
their hands when on the Sabbath they assembled in the 
grove, or the rude log church, to hear the Gospel. The 
untrodden mountains lay between them and the settle- 
ments on the Atlantic slope. Across these mountains the 
onl}' road was a bridle-path ; the only conveyance a pack- 
horse. Iron and salt could only be obtained as these 
pack-horses carried them across the mountains. Salt was 
worth eight dollars a bushel ; and often twenty bushels 
of wheat were given in exchange for one of salt. Their 
fertile fields produced an abundance of grain, especially 
wheat, from which they distilled the famed Monongahela 
whiskey, while their orchards were laden witli apples and 
peaches from which they made brandies. To find a mar- 
ket for these, almost their only product, they must take 
a long and dangerous journey in flat-boats down the Ohio 
and the Mississippi to New Orleans, and thence by ship to 
the eastern markets. 

The tax levied upon the manufacture of domestic 
spirits was opposed by many. It was no doubt looked 
upon as unequal, a:, it was appropriated to the support of 
the Federal government, while the tax itself fell upon 
only a small portion of the community. But nowhere 
was it so persistently resisted as by these settlers of the 
four western counties of Pennsylvania. They rose in open 
rebellion ; not only refused to pay the tax, but drove off' 
the officers appointed to collect it. This ojiposition was 



1. 



542 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

™-^'^ not confined to obscure persons, but some of tbe most in- 

' fluential encouraged the multitude to resist the law ; but 

1794. their ministers, to a man, exerted all their influence m favor 
of obedience. The more violent leaders openly boasted 
they would not only resist the law, but separate from 
Pennsylvania, and form a new State. They professed to 
have very little regard for the Federal government, and 
took encouragement from the same party that sustained 
G-enet. To discover those who sent information of their 
high-handed measures to the government, these rebels 
robbed the mail ; they scoffed at the proclamation of the 
Governor of the State and also at that of the President. 
Aug. Thus matters continued for nearly two years. It shows 
the excitement which prevailed, that at one time with 
only three days' notice, there assembled on Braddock's 
Field nearly seven thousand armed men. They had for 
their motto " Liberty and no excise." The assemblage 
passed many resolutions, indicating an intention to resort 
to further acts of violence. 

This meeting was presided over by Colonel Edward 
Cook, one of the judges of Fayette county, who had taken 
an active part in resisting the enforcement of the law. Its 
secretary was Albert GaUatin, from the same county, a 
native of Switzerland, who had been in the country but a 
few years ; a young man of superior education ; an ardent 
sympathizer with the French school of politics ; a violent 
opposer of the excise law. He had risen rapidly in popu- 
lar favor, had been a member of the Legislature of the 
State, and also of a Convention to amend its Constitution. 
Governor Mifflin wished to try the effect of a circular 
addressed to the insurgents, before calling out the militia. 
The circular was unheeded. The President issued a proc- 
lamation ordering the rebels to desist from their illegal 
proceedings ; at the same time he called out .the militia, 
who responded promptly to the call. 

The leaders soon found that, after all, the Federal 



THE WHISKEY INSUEEECTION MISSION TO ENGLAND. 543 

authority had the power and was determined to enforce ^^^• 

the law. The leaders became anxious to screen the people ■ 

from the anger of the government, and themselves from 179^. 
the anger of the people. ^'^''' 

Only when the militia, which had crossed the moun- 
tains, in two divisions, formed a juncture at Union Town, 
did the insurgents submit. A few arrests were made ; the 
most active leaders had fled the country. Thus ended 
" The Whiskey Insurrection." The vigor and energy dis- 
played by the Federal government in putting down the 
insurgents added strength to its authority. 

The belligerents in Europe, though professing friend- 
ship, had but little regard to the rights of Americans. 
While France was detaining their ships in her ports, Eng- 
hiud was issuing orders to her navy to seize and detain all- 
vessels freighted with French goods, or laden with pro- 
visions for any French colony. These measures would ruin 
American commerce. Congress passed a resolution which 
forbid any trading vessel to leave an American port for 
sixty days. This was designed to annoy the British, by 
not furnishing provisions for their navy, — yet it operated 
just as much against the French, through whose par- 
ticular friends the bill was passed. 

A war with England was impending. To avert 
such a calamity, and to arrange the difficulties existing April, 
between the two countries, Washington resolved to send a 
special ambassador to the Court of St. James. 

To this important mission he nominated the patriotic 
and pure-minded Chief Justice Jay. Jay was of Huguenot 
descent ; as to his revolutionary services second only to 
the President himself ; of the highest reputation as a 
jurist ; his integrity, learning and disinterestedness had 
won him universal respect. In addition, there was a 
propriety in the selection that conciliated all minds, for 
he was one of the commissioners who had negotiated the 



544 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

i'.^^V- first treaty with Great Britain. It would be a very difS- 

IXXJDl. •' . . " 

. — - — cult task to obtain all that the American people thought 

i'i''Jl- they had a right to ask. There were many assumptions 

of p)0wer which England would be unwilling to yield. To 

negotiate under such circumstances required much skill 

and judgment. 

On his arrival in England, Jay was treated with great 
courtesy and respect, and a disj^osition was manifested to 
amicably arrange the difficulties which had arisen between 
the two countries. 

Both parties had their complaints to make. The one, 
that the Western posts had not been given up according 
to the treaty ; that their neutral rights were not respected ; 
that compensation had not been given for the slaves car- 
ried off at the close of the war ; that their merchants 
were excluded from the West India trade, and that 
British sailors, who by adoption had become Americans, 
were impressed and forcibly taken out of American ships. 

The other, that debts contracted with English mer- 
chants prior to the Eevolution could not be collected ; 
that the property of Tories had not been accounted for. A 
treaty was finally concluded, not such as Jay wished, nor 
as justice demanded, but the best that could be obtained 
under the circumstances. 

The Western posts were to be given up in two years ; 
the West India trade was granted on certain conditions, 
while free admission was given to British ports in Europe 
and in the East Indies, but no compensation could be ob- 
tained for the negroes. On the other hand, provision was 
made for the collection of the debts complained of 

A great clamor was raised against the treaty, which 
was grossly misrepresented. One party contended that 
its ratification would produce war with France, the other 
that its rejection would lead to a war with England. There 
were stormy debates on the subject in Congress, and in 
some of the State Legislatures. But when the difficulties 



WEPREDATIOXS ON COMMERCE ALGEEINE PIRATES. 545 

tliat stood in the way of obtaining more desirable con- ^^^^^ 

ditions became known, and when the character of the . 

treaty itself was understood, the more intelligent and con- 1795. 
. . ,.., 1 • n n i- June, 

servative portion of the people, were m favor of acceptmg 

it. After a fortnight's debate in secret session the Senate 

advised its ratification, and thus was secured peace for 

some years ; under the circumstances, a very important 

gain. 

Treaties were also negotiated with Spain, in which the 
boundaries between the United States, Louisiana, and 
Florida were more definitely settled. The free navigation 
of the Mississippi was also secured to both parties, and 
the Americans were granted for three years the privilege 
of making New Orleans a place of deposit for their trade. 

American commerce, deriving its main resources in the . 
New England States, had increased very rapidly; the 
trade to the Mediterranean was, however, much hindered by 
depredations committed upon it by Algerine pirates. 
Whether to purchase an exemption from these annoy- 
ances, as Europe had been in the habit of, or to send a fleet 
and punish the marauders, was a difficult question to 
answer. It was thought better, for the present, to re- 
deem the American sailors held as slaves by these bar- Sept. 
barians. On this occasion a bill was passed to build six 
frigates ; this was the foundation of the Navy of the 
United States. The following j^ear a treaty was made 
with the Dey of Algiers, and the captives released on the 
payment of a heavy ransom — nearly a million of dollars 
were paid for this purpose. This money expended in 
fitting out an armament, and thoroughly chastising the 
pirates, vrould have been better policy, — as was proved 
some years afterwards. 

Three more States — Vermont, Kentucky, and Ten- I79G, 
nessee — were admitted into the Union during the adminis- 
tration. 

As Washington was unwilling to serve another term, 
35 



546 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, the two parties arraved their finces for a trial of streno-th 

XXXIX. ■ 

." The Federalists nominated John Adams for President and 

1706. the Republicans Thomas Jeiferson. The parties were 

verj' nearly equally divided. Adams received two more 

1797. votes than Jefferson, and was declared to be elected 

President, and the latter Vice-President. 

Before retiring from public life Washington published 
a farewell address to the people of the United States. 
They responded to it with respect and affection ; the out- 
burst of a nation's gratitude. It was a truly paternal ad- 
dress, warning the nation against party strife and sectional 
jealousies, advising the policy of impartial neutrality 
toward other nations when at war with each other, and as 
a safeguard to liberty, the preservation of the Union and 
the Constitution. 

Thus ended the eight years of Washington's adminis- 
tration. When it commenced all was unsettled. Now 
the government was established. In that short' time it 
had been severely tested. 

The general policy of his administration became the 
fixed policy of the government of the United States. The 
most enduring monument of his integrity and wisdom ; 
of his patriotic and Christian principles. Strange as it 
may seem, the annals of unscrupulous political warfare 
do not furnish a parallel to the scurrilous slanders that 
were heaped upon him, not only during his administration, 
but at its close. Such were the disreputable means used 
to induce the United States to become the ally of Franco 
and to join in a war against the hated England. 



CHAPTER XL, 

JOHN ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION. 

Serious Aspect, of Relations witii France. — Commissioners of Peace. — Tlie 
French Cruisers. — The Alien Act. — War impending. — Washington, 
Commander-in-Chief. — Capture of the Frigate L'lnsurgcnte. — Peace 
concluded. — Death of Washington. — Eulogiums on his Character. — 
The city of Washington becomes the Seat of Government. 

The policy of the new adtninistration was like that of ^^j'^^- 

the preceding, the cabinet officers of which were retained. 

The new President was not more influenced by love for 1797. 
England than by admiration for France. He had no ex- 
pectation that the latter country would establish a gov- 
ernment upon just and righteous principles. He expressed 
a " determination to maintain peace and inviolate faith 
with all nations, and neutrality and impartiality with the 
belligerent powers of Europe." 

In the mean time relations with France assumed a 
serious aspect. Nothing would satisfy that power but a 
willingness on the part of the United States to be used 
as a dependent. While the French partisans were clam- 
oring for such an alliance, the Directory exhibited their 
good will by issuing orders to seize and retain all Ameri- 
can vessels having on board English manufactured goods. 

Washington had recalled Monroe from the French 
Mission, and in his place sent Charles C. Pinckney. The 
latter sent his credentials to the Minister of Foreign 
^.ffairs, but a few days after Monroe was notified that a 



548 nisTORY OF the amekican people. 

CHAP, niinister would not be received from the United States 

until grievances were redressed ; but Monroe himself was 

IT'.IT. complimented for his devotion to the French cause ; un- 
der the circumstances, a compliment somewhat equivocal. 
Pinckney was treated with studied neglect, bordering 
on insult ; finally lie demanded his passports and depart- 
ed for Holland. During this time French 2>rivateers and 
cruisers were capturing American merchantmen and treat- 
ing their crews as prisoners of war. Some of the priva- 
teers were commanded by renegade Americans, who 
gloried in sailing under the colors of the " Great Eepublic." 
France also stimulated Holland and Spain to comjilain 
of the partiality of Jay's treaty with Great Britain ; and 
was also suspected of an intention to rob Spain of Louisi- 
ana and Florida. With overpowering successes, and un- 
scrupulous political morals, she was making rapid strides 
toward becoming the great power of the world. 

Still more alarming was the fact that tliere existed in 
the United States a large party that opposed the neutral 
policy of the government, and openly favored an alliance 
with the " Terrible Republic." 
jfay. The President called a special session of Congress, and 

laid before it a statement of the relations with France. 
When it became known that in their rcpiesentative the 
United States had been deliberately insulted ; and that 
French aggressions on American commerce were increas- 
ing, the enthusiasm of the partisans of France somewhat 
declined. 

Two special commissioners were appointed to proceed 
to Paris, and, if possible, adjust the existing difficulties. 
John Marshall and Elbridgo Gerry were selected for this 
mission. The former, who was a Federalist, became after- 
ward Chief Justice of the United Stales ; the latter, a 
Eepublican in sentiment, one of the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence, became afterward Vice- 
President. They were authorized to conclude a treaty j 



Oct. 



TALLEYRAND AND THE AMEUICAN ENVOYS. 549 

one that should not conflict with treaties existing with CHAP. 

other nations ; and to insist upon the right of the United 

States to remain neutral. 1798. 

The envo3's joined Pinekney in Paris, and imme- 
diately made known to the Minister of Foreign Affairs 
the object of their mission. This minister was no less a 
personage than the celebrated Talleyrand, who some years 
before had been an exile in the United States, where, 
not receiving the attention which he thought he deserved, 
had returned home in no very complacent humor. At 
first he refused an audience to the commissioners, hut 
soon after sent irresponsible persons to make them propo- 
sitions, which, if found convenient, he coulil easily disa- 
vow. Thus for several months they were the victims of 
diplomatic trickery. 

Meanwhile French cruisers captured American vessels, 
and French courts confiscated their cargoes, and imprison- 
ed their crews. Finally the commissioners were given to 
understand, if they would advance a little money for the 
special benefit of Talleyrand and his worthy friends, and 
also pledge the United States to make France a loan, that 
negotiations would he commenced in earnest. This 
proposition was indignantly refused. Marshall and Pinek- 
ney were immediately ordered to leave the country, and 
Gerry, whose party at home sympathized with France, 
was invited to remain and negotiate u treaty. It was by 
such insults and injuries, that France hoped to intimi- 
date the United States, and make them as dependent on 
her boasted magnanimity, as she had already made Spain. 
The disrespect offered the commissioners excited great in- 
dignation in the minds of the American people. Strange 
as it may seem, the opposition insisted that France was 
not to blame, but their own government, in faithfully en- 
forcing its policy of neutrality. At length the corre- 
spondence between Talleyrand's agents and the commis- 
sioners was published. The French party offered no more 



550 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN^ PEOPLE. 

CHAP, apologies. The spirit of the insulted people was aroused 

The reply of Pinckney to the corrupt emissaries of Tal- 

1798. leyrand — "Millions for defence, not one cent for tribute,'" 
was echoed throughout the land. Addresses to the Presi- 
dent, approving his measures, began to pour in from all 
parts of the nation. The French party soon dwindled to 
a small minority. The only hope Jefferson cherished was 
that Congress would adjourn. " To separate Congress 
now," wrote he, " will be withdrawing the fire from a boiling 
pot." 

A large number of French exiles — it was thought 
nearly thirty thousand — were, at this time, in the country. 
Some of these acted as spies, at least so thought the gov- 
ernment ; some had tampered with the people of Ken- 
tucky to induce them to join in an expedition against 
Louisiana, then belonging to Spain, and some planned a 
similar expedition against Florida. Thus did they abuse 
the hospitality timdered them by endeavoring to create 
divisions among the people, and opposition to the policy 
of the government. 

Under these circumstances Congress passed what was 
termed the " Alien Act," to continue in force two years, 
July, by which the President was authorized to order out of the 
country aliens, who, by their plots might endanger the 
interests of the government in case of war. The law was 
never enforced, but nevertheless a large number of these 
exiles left the country. 

Presently Marshall returned, and confi.-med all that 
had been reported of the demands of the French Repub- 
lic. The President sent in a message to Congress, which 
contained a statement of the embarrassing relations exist- 
ing between the two countries. Preparations were made 
for war. It was resolved to raise and equip an army ; to 
fortify important posts on the sea-coast ; to prepare a 
naval armament, and to capture French armed vessels, 
but not to molest merchantmen. 



COMMISSIONEES OF PEACE THE TREATY. 55] 

The people came forward with alacrity to assist. ^'^^^• 

Money was subscribed liberally, especially in the seaboard 

towns, to equip a navy. The frigates so long building 1798. 
were just finished ; and the Constitution, the United 
States, and the Constellation, the germ of our present navy, 
were fitted for sea. 

Washington was nominated as Lieutenant-General 
and Commander-in-Chief of the army — a nomination 
unanimously confirmed by the Senate. He heartily ap- 
proved the measures of the President, and condemned 
those of France, saying that the administration ought to 
inspire universal satisfaction, and added, " we can with pure 
hearts appeal to Heaven for the justice of our cause, and 
may trust the final result to that kind Providence which 
has hitherto and so often signally favored the people of 
the United States." 

When it was seen that the United States would not 
submit to insult, but were preparing to repel it by force, 
the Directory made overtures for peace. This intimation 
came from Murray, the American Minister at Holland, to 
whom Talleyrand had communicated the proposition. 
The President accordingly nominated two commissioners, 
Oliver Ellsworth and W. R. Davie, who were to join Mur- 
ray in Paris. 

President Adams took the ground that they should 
not enter France, unless assurance was given that they 
would be received in a " manner befitting the Commission- 
ers of an ind;. .endent nation." 

On their arrival in France they found Bonaparte at 
the head of affairs, and the cunning and politic Talley- 
rand still in office. Negotiations commenced, and in due 
time a treaty was concluded, which in its provisions ad- 
justed nearly all the matters of dispute. g , 

The fleet which had been fitted out to protect Ameri- 
can commerce from French depredations had not been 
idle. More than three hundred private vessels had been 



552 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

C^J^P- licensed to carry arms and to defend themselves from the 
common enemy. But the incident which gave the great- 



1799. est satisfaction to the country was the capture of the 
French frigate L'Insurgente, by the Constellation, under 
Feb. Captain Truxton. The two vessels were about equal in 
their complement Of men and guns. After a severe con- 
test of an hour and a quarter, the L'Insurgente struck 
her colors, having lost in men twenty to one of her an- 
tagonist. This was the first time that an American 
armed vessel had met one of another nation on equal 
terms. As a presage of future triumphs it was most 
grateful to the people. 

Ere long intelligence came of the conclusion of peace. 
The army was disbanded, but the defences along the coast 
were still maintained, and also it was resolved to keep the 
navy afloat. 

But before it was known in America that the Com- 
missioners of peace had been kindly received, an event oc- 
curred which cast a gloom over the nation, and for a season 
silenced the clamors of party spirit — the death of Wash- 
ington. In riding about his farm he was exposed to a 
cold rain. The following morning he complained of a sore 
tliroat, an inflammation of the windpipe followed, which 
speedily produced death. With calm resignation he ex- 
Dec, pressed his willingness to die. 
14- 

A joint committee of both Houses of Congress reported 

resolutions recommending to the people of the United 
States, out of respect for his memory, to wear badges of 
mourning for thirty days, and also that his approaching 
birth-day be celebrated " by suitable eulogies, orations, 
and discourses, or by public prayers." Thus did the 
people honor him " who was first in war, first in peace, 
iuid first in tiie liearts of his countrymen." 

The oration before both houses of Congress, was pro- 
nounced by Colonel Henry Lee, wliom we have seen as 
the intimate though youthful friend of V/ashington. In 



DEATH OB WASHINGTON. 553 

accordance with the above racommendation, his birth-day t:HAP. 

A-L. 

was celebrated throughout the land ; the most eminent 

in the nation delighted to honor his memory. Nor wns 1799 
his name honored only in his native land. When the 
news reached Europe it elicited euaotions of sadness and 
tokens of respect. The great British fleet of sixty ships 
of the line, under the command of Lord Bridport, and at 
the time lying in the English channel, lowered their flags 
to half mast. In his orders of the day to the French 
army, Bonaparte, then First Consul of France, paid a 
tribute to his memory, and afterward caused a funeral 
oration to be delivered before the civil and military au- 
thorities, and the standards of the army to be draped in 
mourning for ten days. 

Such were the public tokens of respect. But he had 
a higher honor — a place in the affections of the good and 
humane in private life more than any man of any age ; 
he never received an office in the gift of the people, or at 
the hands of their representatives, that was not unani- 
mously given. To him alone has gone forth that heartfelt 
respect, that reverence and gratitude which can be embodied 
only in the endearing title, the Father of his cou.ntuy. 

Says an eminent British statesman and scholar, (Lord 
John Russell,) " To George Washington nearly alone in 
modern times has it been given to accomplish a wonder- 
ful revolution, and yet to remain to all future times the 
theme of a people's gratitude, and an example of virtuous 
and beneficent power." " His intellectual, like his moral 
qualities, were never brought out to display his own talent 
or enhance his own glory. They were forthcoming as oc- 
casion required, or the voice of the country called for 
them ; largeness of combination, quickness of decision, 
fortitude in adversity, sympathy with his officers, the 
jurst of impetuous courage, were the natural emanations 
of this great and magnanimous soul." ' 

' Life and Times of James Fox, Vol. I, pp. 366 .and ?.i4 



554 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^ xl!'" '^^° administration of Adams, now drawing to its close, 
— ' — was in its policy like that of Washington. During these 
1790. twelve years, there was much opposition, but that policy 
in tlie main has remained unchanged from that day to 
this. To be free from, the turmoil of European politics was 
wisdom, but to carry it out required the calm determina- 
tion of Washington, as well as the impulsive energy of 
Adams, " who was not the man to quail " when he thought 
duty called. 

During the summer the seat of the Federal Govern- 
1800. ment was removed to the City of Washington, then " a 
little village in the midst of the woods," in the District 
of Columbia. 

The struggle for political power was renewed with 
great vigor, and in the bitterness of party spirit. The 
Federalists nominated Adams and Charles C. Pinckney for 
President, while the Kepublicans nominated for the same 
office, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. When the 
electors came to cast their votes it was found that Adams 
had sixty-five, Pinckney sixty-four, and Jefterson and 
Burr had each seventy-three. In accordance with the 
provisions of the Constitution, it became necessary for the 
House of Representatives to make the choice. After 
iHOi. thirty-six ballotings, during seven days, Jefferson was 
JY." chosen President, and Burr Vice-President. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

The President's Inaugural. — Purclia.se of Louisiana. — The Pirates of the 
Mediterranean. — Captain Bainbridge. — The Burning of the Philadel- 
phia. — Tripoli Bombarded. — Death of Hamilton. — Aaron Burr. — Oppo- 
sition to the Navy. — Gunboats. — Right of Neutrals infringed upon. — 
The unjust Decrees issued by England and France. — American Mer- 
chants demand the Right to defend themselves. — Impressment of 
American Seamen. — Treaty with England rejected by the President. — 
Affair of the Chesapeake. — The Embargo ; its effect. — Public feeling on 
the subject. — Manufactures. — Embargo rfepealed. 

On entering upon office Jefferson found the country in a chap, 

prosperous condition. The revenue was abundant for ]_ 

current expenses ; the stability of the government had in- igoi. 
spired the industrial interests with confidence, commerce 
had increased beyond all precedent, and was pressing on 
to still higher triumphs. 

The prospect of a general peace in Europe also gave as- 
surance that American ships would no longer be subjected 
to unlawful seizures under the pretense that they carried 
cargoes contraband of war. The census just taken had 
shown the population to be, within a few hundreds, double 
what it was at the commencement of the revolution. The 
total population being 5,319,762. The number of mem- 
bers of the House of Representatives was 141. 

The new President professed to deprecate party spirit : 
and wished to be recognized as a " moderate republican," 
proclaiming as " brethren of the same principles, we are 



556 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^xd^' ^^^^^^ ^y different names, we are all Eepublicans, we are 
aU Federalists." But in a very short time he began to 



1802. remove those from office, who were not of his own political 
opinions. The bitterness of party spirit was not allayed 
by this policy. 

Immigrants had been pouring into the region North- 
west of the Ohio. In one year twenty thousand persons 
had passed into that territory to find homes. The people 
of the eastern portion, presented themselves at the door 
of Congress, asking permission to be admitted as a State. 
The request was granted, and the State of Ohio, with a 
population of seventy .thousand, became a member of the 
A]>v\\. Union. 

The Spanish Governor of Louisiana, in violation of an 
existing treaty — that of 1795 --refused permission to the 
traders on the Mississippi to deposit their produce at New 
Oileans. This act, so injurious to their commerce, caused 
a great commotion among the people beyond the moun- 
tains. IHie government was called upon to redress these 
grievances ; the Western people must have the privilege 
of freely navigating the Mississippi, or they would seize 
New Orleans, and drive the Spaniards from the territory. 
At this crisis intimations came from Paris that Spain, by 
a secret treaty, had ceded Louisiana to France. Bona- 
parte's vision of restoring the French power on this con- 
tinent had become somewhat dim, especially as the over- 
powering fleet of Great Britain would seize and occupy 
the mouth of the Mississippi, whenever it was known to 
belong to France. To avoid this contingency, he was 
willing to sell the entire territory of Louisiana to the 
United States. Accordingly Robert E. Livingston, 
American Minister at Paris, commenced negotiations, 
which resulted in the purchase of that region for fitteen 

1803. millions of dollars. The rights and privileges of Ameri- 
April f o 

30. can citizens were guaranteed to the inhabitants of the 

pu chased territory. 



ALGEEINE PIRATES BAINBRIDGE. 557 

When the sale was completed, Bonaparte is said to ^^^j''- 

have exclaimed : — " This accession of territory strengthens . 

forever the power of the United States ; — I have just 1803. 
given to England a m-iritime rival that will sooner or later 
humble her pride." 

In the midst of the turmoil of wars in Europe, the 
pirates of the Mediterranean had renewed their depreda- Sept 
tions upon American commerce. Captain Bainbridge in 
command of the frigate George Washington was sent to 
Algiers with the usual tribute. The Dcy ordered him to 
carry some presents and his ambassador to Constantinople. 
Bainbridge at first refused. The Dey was highly indignant, 
" You pay me tribute," said he, " by which you become 
ray slaves, and therefore I have the right to order you as I 
think proper." However, as he was exposed to the guns 
of the castle and batteries, and learning that English, 
French, and Spanish ships of war had submitted to similar 
impositions, Bainbridge thought it more prudent to com- 
ply with the arrogant demand, hoping at some future time 
to avenge the indignity thus offered his country's flag. In 
closing his report to the Navy Department, he wrote, " I 
hope I will never again be seot to Algiers with tribute unless 
I am authorized to deliver it from the mouth of our cannon." 

As these depredations continued, and, while the tribute 
became more and more onerous, a squadron, under Com- 
modore Preble, was sent to capture the pirates and block- 
ade the harbor of Tripoli. The frigate Philadelphia, 
commanded by Bainbridge, when chasing an Algerine 
cruiser, ran upon a sunken rock near the shore. While 
thus disabled, Tripolitan gun-boats captured her after a 
contest, which lasted an entire day. Bainbridge and his 
crew of three hundred men, were made prisoners, and 
treated as slaves, for whom an exorbitant ransom was de- 
manded. 

Finding means, however, to communicate with the 
American squadron, he suggested the possibility of bura- 



isoa 



558 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, ing the Philadelphia, as she lay moored under the guns 

, of the castle. Lieutenant Decatur volunteered to act on 

1804. the suggestion. A small Tripolitan trader had been cap- 
tured a few days before. This vessel, now named the 
Intrepid, was selected for the .enterprise. With a crew 
of seventy-six chosen men — all volunteers — Decatur sail- 
ed on his perilous undertaking. Combustibles were pre- 
pared in bundles, and to each man was assigned his par- 
ticular duty. 
180-t. Passing into the harbor, they approached the Phila- 

delphia about midnight. When hailed, the interpreter 
answered they were traders, who had lost their anchor in 
the late gale, and begged permission to make fast to the 
frigate till morning. The roquest was granted, and the 
Intrepid slipped alongside. Suddenly the Turks noticed 
that she had her anchors, and gave the alarm, shouting 
Feb. " Americanos." In a moment more, Decatur and his 
brave companions clambered up one side of the vessel, 
while the panic-stricken Turks, after slight resistance, as 
rapidly passed over the other into the water. The fag- 
gots were handed tip, and carried to every part of the 
ship, and in thirty minutes she was on fire from stem to 
stern. So dry had the vessel and the rigging become in 
that warm climate, that with difficulty the Americans 
escaped the flames.' When clear of the_ 'frigate cheers of 
triumph told that the daring attempt had been success- 
ful. The flames soon, lighted up the harbor ; the castle 
opened with its guns upon the Intrepid, Avhich, urged on 
by the rowers, was rapidly passing out of danger. Soon 
the guns of the burning frigate began to explode and 
throw their shot in all directions. This was one of the 
boldest enterprises ever undertaken by our naval heroes. 

The squadron continued to blockade the harbor of 
Tripoli, and during the following summer bumbanled the 
town. The contest was severe, and there was much hand- 
to-hand fighting on board gun-boats. Intelligence came 



16. 



HAMILTON BCRR. 55t> 

that other vessels were on their way, and a further attack •"^j*-,^- 
was postponed. Before the arrival of this reinforcement 



the Bashaw came to terms, and desired to make peace ; 1804. 
other causes aided in hastening this event. He had 
driven his elder brother, Hamet, into exile, and usurped 
his throne. Captain William Eaton, American Consul • 
at Tunis, concerted measures with the exiled brother to 
drive the usurper from Tripoli. With four hundred troops, 
only nine of whom were Americans, Eaton and Hamet 
marched a thousand miles across the Libyan desert, and 
suddenly appeared before Derne, which place, with the aid 
of the American fleet, they captured in a few days. The 
Bashaw sent troops against the invaders ; these troops 
were also defeated, then to save himself he made projDosals 
to negotiate. Peace was concluded by Lear, the American 1805. 
consul at Tripoli, but not on as favorable terms as justice "°® 
demanded. After an exchange of prisoners, man for man, 
there still remained two hundred Americans ; for these a 
heavy ransom waS paid. Thus conceding the point in 
dispute, that the Bashaw had a right to receive ransoms 
for prisoners taken by his pirates. 

Jefferson was re-elected President, and, instead of 
Burr, George Clinton, of New York, Vice-President. 
Burr's intrigues had become known to both parties, and 
he experienced the just fate of the insincere — he was sus- 
pected by all, and trusted by none. Rejected by his own 
State, his political prospects ruined, and overwhelmed by 
debts, the result of unsuccessful speculations, his cold and 
unrelenting spirit panted for revenge. He looked upon 
the influence of Alexander Hamilton, as one cause of his 
political failure. To retrieve his political fortufies Burr 
wag willing to risk his own life, if he could but kill the 
man whose patriotism and integrity he well knew, and 
whose influence he dreaded. He laid his plans to force 
Hamilton into a duel. They met on. the banks of the 
Hudson, opposite New York, Hamilton previously de- i805. 



560 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^?A^- clarinsr that to fip-ht a duel was contrary to his itidtrmenl 
XLI. ; J .1 o 

and his sense of moral dutj- ; that he wislied Burr no ill, 

1804. and should make no elTort to injure Inm. Burr took de- 
liberate aim, and Hamilton was mortally wonnded ; as he 
fell his own pistol went oft' accidentally. AVhcn the sur- 
Jul}' geon approached he ■ said, " Doctor, this is a mortal 
'^- wound." In twenty-four hours he was no more. Thus 
fell one of the brightest intellects, and purest, self-sac- 
rificing patriots of the country — a victim to an unchristian 
custom, the relic of a barbarous age. His loss to the 
country was second only to that of Washington. 

The most imposing funeral ceremony the citj' ever 
saw revealed the deptli of feeling in the public mind. 
Presently the correspondence between the parties was 
published ; this made known the designing manner in 
which Hamilton had been entrapped, and the disclosure 
produced in the public mind still greater indignation 
against Burr. The coroner's jury brought in a verdict of 
wilful murder against him. Fearful of violence he was 
fain to conceal himself for a few days in New York, and 
then to flee to Philadelphia, and finally to Georgia, until, 
as he expressed it, " the storm would blow over." 

The sacrifice of a man so eminent, merely to appease 
the honor of a consummate villain, turned the minds of 
the people more directly to the moral turpitude, as well 
as the absurdity of the custom of duelling. Public opinion 
on this subject became, henceforth, embodied in laws, 
which banished the custom from some of the States, and 
will, it may be hoped, eventually banish it from all the 
others. 

The- remaining history of Aaron Burr may be told in 
a few words. His intriguing and restless nature impelled 
jggg him to other enterprises. The year following the death 
of Hamilton he went west. That section of the country 
contained many turbulent spirits, and had, moreover, 
manifested much dissatisfaction with the General Govern. 



THE MYSTERIOUS MOVEMENTS OF BUEE DIS DEATH. 561 

ment. It was thought Burr had some designs for his own '^^^'' 

aggrandizement ; either to seize upon New Orleans and 

draw oflF the people of the valley of the Mississippi from ^^05. 
their allegiance to the Union, or to make a foray into 
Mexico, overturn the existing government, and put him- 
self at the head of the one he should establish. His mys- 
terious movements from place to place, and the hints 
concerning his projects, which he threw out to those 
whom he wished to enlist, excited the suspicion of the 
federal government. After being permitted to plan and 
counter-plan for a year or more, he was finally arrested 
and brought to trial. • But so cunningly had he managed 
the affair, that no decisive proof could be obtained of his 
designs. After a prolonged trial, he was acquitted of the 
charge of treason against the United States. ^.^^Z^- 

Though acquitted by the jury, public opinion treat- 
ed him as guilty. Turned upon the world a penniless 
wanderer, suspected everywhere, even in foreign lands, 
wliere he lived in the greatest poverty, a pensioner iipon 
the pittance doled out by a few friends. Ordered out of 
England as a French spy, and treated in France as a 
British emissary ; finally, he returned home, to find his 
family ties all broken, his daughter, an only and beloved 
child, having, under trying circumstances, recently perisTi- 
ed at sea. 

He made no advances to renew former friendships or 
acquaintance, and would gladly have shunned the public 
gaze, but he was compelled in his old age to resume the 
practice of the law as a means of support. With a ban 
resting upon him, he went down in loneliness to the 
grave, in his eighty-first year — a melancholy instance of iss6. 
prostituted talents. 

The country continued to be very prosperous ; the 
public expences were lessened, and the finances were 
leaving every year an increasing surplus ; the belligerents 
36 



562 HISTORY OF THE AMEBlCAlir PEOPLE. 

CHAP, in Europe had not yet interfered much with American 

commerce, the great source of the federal revenue. The 

1805. facilities for making money exchanges afforded by the 
banks had a beneficial effect upon the internal trade of 
the country. The exportation of domestic produce had 
tripled in value since the adojjtion of the Constitution, 
amounting to forty-two millions. There was also a rapidly- 
increasing, and immensely profitable trade in the import 
and export of foreign merchandise, exclusively for the 
supply of foreign nations. Internal improvements were 
not overlooked, and companies were formed for the con- 
struction of roads and bridges, and others for insurance. 

Washington and Adams, in their administrations, 
both endeavored to place the force of the country on a 
footing to command the respect of other nations. Hence 
they strongly urged the creation of a navy to protect 
American commerce, and the policy of fortifying impor- 
tant places along the coast. But Jefferson looked upon 
this as a useless expense. He would prefer to have the 
public ships hauled out of harm's way into harbors ; in- 
stead of prosecuting trade upon the ocean, where a cruiser 
of one of the belligerents might occasionally search a ves- 
sel for goods contraband of war, he would lay an embargo, 
and cut off all trade. Harbor fortifications were subjected 
to the same j)olicy, falsely named economical ; gun-boats 
were to take the place of other defences. Even the frames 
of the six ships of the line, commenced by the previous 
administration, were cut up to make gun -boats. 

For more than six years not a single vessel was added 
to the navy, though there were indications that war might 
speedily occur. The hostility in Congress to that branch 
of the service was confined principally to the southern 
members. It was avowed that in case of war it would be 
good policy to abandon the harbors and sea-coast, and 
retire into the interior ; that it would be better to give 
up commerce altogether than protect it by a navy. 



ENGLISH AND FRENCH DECKEES. 563 

The war between France and England had driven ™/^jP- 
from the ocean all the merchant vessels of those nations. 



This trade passed into the hands of neutrals, the United 1806. 
States securing much the largest share. 

The cruisers of the belligerent powers continued to in- 
fringe upon the rights of the neutrals. The battle of 
Trafalgar annihilated the fleets of Spain and France. 
The dread of French cruisers had passed away ; and the 
British merchants began to complain of the vast profits 
made by the Americans in the neutral trade, -whose emol- 
uments they wished to secure to themselves. It was 
suspected that the vast amount of property carried by the 
Americans did not belong to them, but that it was taken 
to a neutral port merely to acquire a neutral character, 
and then transhipped to the ports belonging to those na- 
tions which were at war, — a charge no doubt true in many 
instances. On this ground American vessels were seized 
and condemned. 

The English government passed a decree which de- 
clared the coast of Europe from the mouth of the river Elbe 
to Brest, to be in a state of blockade ;— thus forbidding 
neutrals to trade within these prescribed limits. Napo- May. 
Icon, unable to contend with England upon the ocean, 
now issued the famous Berlin decree, which declared the 
coast of Great Britain to be in a state of blockade. In 
addition, he prohibited all trade in English merchandise. N'or, 
Two months later, Gre^t Britain forbade all trade with 
France whatever. Thus these two nations wantonly dis- 
regarded the interests and rights of the commerce of the 
world. Both French and British cruisers, now captured 
American trading ships, and the commerce which extend- 
ed to every sea, gradually dwindled down to a coasting 
trade. Owing to the government's policy — fondly cher- 
ished as the very essence of economy — the commerce 
of the nation was left to the tender mercies of ocean 
despots ; there was no navy to give it protection, except 



564 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^HAP. a few redoubtable gun-boats, that lay in the harbors, 
patiently waiting for the audacious cruisers to come within 



1806. their range. 

The condemnation of vessels taken by foreign cruisers, 
and the forfeiture of their cargoes to the amount of mil- 
lions, caused an intense excitement among American mer 
chants. In all the seaport towns, especially, meetings were 
held to express the views of the people, and petitions ask- 
ing protection, poured into Congress. These petitions only 
produced a recommendation of the President t(5 that body 
to build more gun-boats. Is it strange the policy, which 
neglected the mercantile interests of the country, should 
be contrasted with the profusion in which money was 
spent to purchase territory, and to liquidate Indian 
claims ? Said one party, it is folly to provide a navy, 
which, in case of war, wiU fall into the hands of the 
British. The hardy seamen answered, give us the men- 
of-war well armed, and we will see that they do not fall 
into the hands of the enemy. Will not the same energy 
and spirit, which has extended American commerce to 
the ends of the earth, defend its interests, and maintain 
the honor of the country ? In John Adams' adminis- 
tration, Congress brought to terms the French cruisers on 
American commerce ; it gave the merchants liberty to 
protect themselves, and they did it,— why not grant the 
same permission now ? 

« 

To these complaints were added others equally as seri- 
ous. The British government maintained the doctrine that 
no subject could expatriate himself, or transfer his alle- 
giance to another country. The United States govern- 
ment maintained the reverse, and welcomed emigrants 
from other nations, and as adopted citizens afforded them 
protection. The commanders of British men-of-war were 
accustomed to board American merchant vessels, on the 
high seas, and search for deserters, as they termed those 



THE IMPRESSMENT COMMISSIONERS OF PEACE. 565 

English or Irish sailors, who had thus entLTcd the Ameri- ^^A^- 
oan service. 



In these imjjressments great numbers of native born 1806. 
Americans were forcibly seized and consigned to the slavery 
jf a British man-of-war. These high-handed measures, 
executed in an arrogant manner by the English officers, 
produced throughout the land a feeling of bitter hostility 
to England. The English government gave as an apology 
for these imjiressmeuts, that in her present struggle she 
needed all her seamen, and if permission were given, they 
nearly all would desert, and enter American shi2)S. Eng- 
land herself was to blame for this want of patriotism in 
her seamen. The iron hand of unfeeling rule had driven 
these men from her service ; her cruel press-gangs had 
crushed out their love of home. They had been seized 
when unprotected and hurried on board men-of-war, where 
brutal severities had obliterated their nobler feelings. Thus 
wantonly treated, the English seaman deserted whenever 
he had the opportunity. 

Events were evidently tending toward a war, to avoid 
which the President sent William Pinckney, as joint com- 
missioner with James Monroe, who was already minister AiuiL 
at the court of St. James. The English commissioners 
manifested a great desire not to impress American sea- 
men, but to redress, as speedily as possible, any mistake 
of that character. They urged, that to relinquish the 
right of search for deserters, would be ruinous to the Eng- 
lish navy in time of war. S^iggesting, also, that stringent 
laws should be made by both nations, to prevent seamen 
from passing from the service of the one to the other. The 
prejudices of the English people would not permit, at 
least for the present, any formal relinquishment of the 
right of impressment ; the commissioners further promised, 
that strict orders should be issued to the naval com- 
manders not to abuse the right. 

With the understanding that the question of impress- 



566 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, menls was still open, and subject to future adjustment, 

a treaty for ten years was negotiated between the two 

1807. countries. This treaty was more advantageous, upon the 
''"■ whole, to the United States, than the one negotiated by 
Jay, and was certainly better than the existing irritating 
relations of the two governments. France at this time, 
by virtue of the Berlin decree, continued to seize and con- 
fiscate American property, while Great Britain was anx- 
ious to be on as good terms with the United States as 
her situation would permit. Yet the President, and 
Mar. Madison, his Secretary of State, arbitrarily rejected tbe 
treaty, Without either consulting the rest of the cabinet, 
or the Senate which was in session. The plea given for 
this extraordinary act was, that the treaty was not satis- 
factory on the impressment question. The rejection of 
the treaty left the relations of the two countries in a worse 
condition than ever, even endangering their peace. Wash- 
ington and his cabinet, in ratifying the Jay treaty, secured 
to the country thirteen years of peace and unexpected 
prosperity ; the rejection of this treaty was succeeded by 
four years of ruinous evils, which resulted in plunging the 
nation into a war. Though the English government itself 
was disposed to conciliate, and friendly in its expressions, 
yet its naval commanders were exceedingly insolent in 
their intercourse with tl*e Americans. The inability of 
the navy to maintain the nation's honor, tempted these 
unscrupulous commanders to insult its flag. Thus far 
they had confined their visits to merchantmen, presently 
they went a step farther. 

The United States frigate Chesapeake, of thirty-eight 
guns, had enlisted four men who, it was said, were de- 
serters from the British ship-of-war Melampus. It was 
afterward proved that only one of them was an English- 
man. Strict orders had been issued by the government 
to the recruiting officers not to enlist British subjects, 
knowing them to be such. 



THE ATTACK ON THE FRIGATE CHESAPEAKE. 567 

Several English men-of-war were, at this time, lying '^'!'^'^- 

in Chesapeake Bay ; of the number was the frigate 

Leopard, of fifty guns. When it was known that the 1807. 

Chesapeake was aboiit to put to sea, the Leopard passed 

out a few hours before, and when some miles from the 

coast, she neared and hailed the Chesapeake, under the 

pretense of sending despatches to Europe. A lieutenant 

came on board with a demand for the English seamen. Jims 

22 
Commodore Barron refused the demand, on the ground 

there were no such men on board. This refusal brought 

a broadside from the Leopard, which killed three men and 

wounded eighteen others. As the attack was entirely 

unexpected, and Barron unprepared, he struck his colors, 

after firing a single gun. The four men were taken from 

the Chesapeake, and the Leopard passed on to Halifa.x, 

while the Chesapeake returned to Norfolk, her crew deeply 

mortified and thirsting for revenge. 

The indignation of the whole people was intense. The 
insults of impressing men from merchantmen v\ere as 
nothing, compared with firing into a national vessel. 
The President immediately issued a proclamation, in which j^j 
he complained of the outrage, and ordered the British 2. 
men-of-war out of the American waters, but as he had 
not the power to enforce the order it was disobeyed, and 
the people were enjoined not to have intercourse with the 
British vessels. He also called a special session of Con- 
gress, and a messenger was sent to England, with instruc- 
tions to the American minister to demand satisfaction for 
the outrage. But a fast-sailing vessel had already left 
Halifax with the intelligence. The British government 
immediately disavowed the act, and sent, soon after, a 
special messenger to arrange the difliculty. 

In the mean whde France and England vied with each 
other in issuing and enforcing decrees, which, in their 
effect, would ruin all neutral commerce. English orders 
in council required any vessel bound to a port in France Nov 



568 HISTOET OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, to touch at some English port, and there obtain a license 

to proceed on the voyage. Any vessel that did not com- 

1807. i)ly with this despotic decree was forbidden to export 
French merchandise, unless the cargo was first brought to 
an English port and paid duties before it was shij^ped to 
L'ec. a neutral country. A month later Bonaparte retaliated 
by another decree, dated at Milan, by which every vessel 
that complied with the British decree, was declared to be 
forfeited. Thus American commerce was preyed upon by 
both parties. 

As a scheme of retaliation, and to bring the belliger- 
ents to terms, Congress, on the recommendation of the 
Dec. President, laid an embargo, which prohibited American 
commerce with France and England. A measure lauded 
by its advocates as the only means to save to their country 
American seamen and cargoes, and at the same time 
compel France and England to repeal their offensive de- 
Sov. ci-eej^^ The effect, however, was just the reverse. Bona- 
parte was delighted with the embargo, because it dimin- 
ished just so much of England's income, her means tc 
carry on the war against himself ; on the other hand. 
Great Britain was not dependent on American piroduce, 
the trade to Spain and Portugal, and their colonies, had 
both been recently opened to her merchants, who were 
very willing that their ■ enterprising rivals should remain 
at home to experiment on political theories. The em- 
bargo itself was exceedingly unpopular in the United 
States. The intelligent portion of the people was un- 
able to see what benefit could be derived from theii 
ships rotting in the ports, their seamen out of employ- 
ment, the industry of the country prostrated, and the 
millions of surplus property now worthless for want of a 
market. 

Some years before Jefferson had expressed the .senti- 
ment that the United States " should practise neither 
commerce nor navigation, but stand with respect to Eu- 



OPPOSITION TO THE EMBARGO. 569 

rope precisely on tlie footing of China." Had the people "^^j^j''- 

submitted implicitly to the embargo, the system of non- _ . 

intercourse with other nations would have been complete ; 1807. 
as it wa?, on the recommendation of the Executive, Con- 
gress found it necessary to pass stringent laws to enforce 
its observance. The President was authorized to call out 
the militia and employ ships as revenue cutters to prevent 
cargoes of American 23roduce leaving tlie country. When 
it became known that this enforcing act had really become 
a law, public feeling, in many places, could be no longer 
restrained. Many of the papers announced its passage in 
mourning columns, under the motto, " Liberty is dead." 
General Lincoln, of revolutionary memory, resigned the 
collectorship of the port of Boston rather than enforce the 
law ; and great numbers of custom-house officers in other 
places did the same. In the agricultural portions of the 
country, the effect of the embargo was not so immediate 
as in the commercial. The planters and farmers, implicitly 
trusting in the wisdom of the Executive, stored up their 
cotton, tobacco and grain, hoping for a market when the 
belligerents would be pleased to repeal their hostile 
decrees. 

Some good grew out of this evil. The tens of thou- 
sands thrown out of employment by the effect of the em- 
bargo and kindred measures, were compelled by the iron 
hand of necessity to seek a livelihood by other means, and 
their attention was somewhat directed to domestic manu- 
factures. 

Opposition to the embargo still continued ; in Con- 
gress violent debates were held from day to day upon the 
sxciting topic. At length even the planters and farmers 
began to waver in their faith, and to see as well as the 
New Englanders that it was a futile measure ; that in- 
stead of bringing the French and English to terms it was 
the subject of their ridicule, while it was becoming more 
and more ruinous to the nation. 



570 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Madison, who had been elected President, jilainly in- 

timated his wish that the" obnoxious measure should, in 

1S07. some way, be got rid of ; and three days before the close 
of Jefferson's term the arbitrary act, forced upon the 
country without a moment's warning, and which brought 
ruin upon thousands in loss of property and of employ- 
ment, was, to the joy of the nation, repealed. 

Thus drew to a close Jefferson's administration. Non- 
importation acts, so effective in colonial times, were futile 
under other circumstances — a fact which the advocates of 
the non-intercourse theory were some time in learning. 
There was as much diversity in estimating Jefferson's 
character as there was in relation to his policy. His ad- 
mirers lauded him as the embodiment of political wisdom 
and republican simplicity. An enthusiastic behever in 
the power of the masses to govern themselves, he was an 
advocate for the rights of humanity, not merely in name 
but in sincerity, and as such deserves to be held in 
honor. 



CHAPTER XLII. 

MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 

CoBdition of tbe Country. — Erskine's Negotiation. — Depredationa upon 
American Commerce. — Bonaparte's Rarabouillet Decree. — Affair of 
the Little Belt. — The Census. — Indian Troubles. — Tecumseh and the 
Prophet. — Battle of Tippecanoe. — The two Parties. — The Twelfth Con- 
gress. — Henry Clay. — John C. Calhoun. — Threatening Aspect of For- 
eign Relatious. — John Randolph. — Debates in Congress. — Another Em- 
bargo. — War declared against Great Britain. — Opposition to the War. 
— Riots at Baltimore. — Operations iu the North-west. — Surrender of 
Hull. — Impressment of American Seamen. — Failures to invade Canada. 

The incoraing administration was virtually pledged *^'^f' 
to continue the foreign policy of its predecessor, though 



that policy had not 3'et accomplished what its sanguine 1809. 
friends anticipated. The prediction of the Federalists — 
the conservative party of those days — that such measures 
would lead to a war with England, seemed to be near its 
fulfilment. The prospect was gloomy indeed. The 
nation was totally unprepared for such an event. Neither 
army nor navy to command respect ; no munitions of war 
worthy the name ; the defences of the seahoard almost 
worthless ; the revenue, owing to the embargo and non- 
intercourse acts, much diminished and diminishing more 
and more. The President and his cabinet desired to re- 
lieve the country of these pressing evils. 

To accomplish this end, negotiations were commenced 
with Erskine, the resident British Minister. The youth- 
ful Erskine was a generous and noble-hearted man ; a 



572 



HISTOE^S OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



CHAP, warm friend of the United States, unused to the tricks of 
diplomacy, he really wished to act generously for the in- 

1809. terests of both nations, and not selfishly for his own. lie 
knew that Britain would derive great advantage from the 
renewal of trade with the United States, and hoped that 
the latter might be induced to take sides in the present 
struggle against France. 

In accordance with the spirit of certain instructions, 
Erskine thought himself authorized to oifer " a suitable 
provision for the widows and orphans of those who were 
killed on board the Chesapeake," and to announce the 
conditional repeal of the Orders in Council as far as they 
applied to the commerce of the United States. Tliis re- 
peal was to take place on the tenth of the following June. 

1810. The President, on this assurance, issued a proclamation, 
giving permission for a renewal of commercial intercourse 

1"' • with Great Britain. The news was hailed with joy 
throughout the land. In a few weeks more than a thou- 
sand ships, laden with American produce, were on their 
way to foreign markets. This gleam of sunshine was soon 
obscured. Four months after the President issued another 
^"g- proclamation ; he now recalled the previous one, and again 
established non-intercourse between the two countries. 

The British ministry had disavowed the provisional 
arrangement made by Erskine, giving as one reason that 
he had gone beyond his instructions. In the communica- 
tion accepting Erskine's offer to provide for the sufferers 
in the Chesapeake affair, the provision was spoken of as 
an " act of justice comporting with what was due from his 
Britannic majesty to his own honor." This uncourteous 
remark gave offence, and furnished another jiretext for 
breaking off the negotiation. 

The failure of this arrangement, which had promised 
so much, greatly mortitietl the President and his cabinet, 
and as greatly wounded the self-respect of the nation. 
In consequence of this feeling, Jackson, the special envoy, 



MERCHANTS ASK PERMISSION TO ARM THEIR SHIPS. 573 

sent soon after by England, was not very graciously re- '-^jp 

ceived. Negotiations were, however, commenced with _ 

him, but after exchanging angry notes for some months, 1810. 
all diplomatic intercourse was suspended between the two 
countries. 

American commerce had now less protection than 
ever. In the desperate conflict going on in Europe it was 
impossible to obtain redress from any of the belligerents. 
The ocean swarmed with French and English cruisers, 
wliile Danish privateers infested the northern seas. They 
all enjoyed a rich harvest in jilundering American mer- 
chantmen, under the convenient pretence that they car- 
ried goods contraband of war. Great numbers of ships 
thus jjillaged were burned at sea to destroy all traces of 
the robbery. Willing to trust to their own genius to , 
escape capture, the American merchants asked permission 
to arm their ships in self-defence. Congress denied the 
request, on the ground that such a state of affairs would 
be war ! The people, however, thought there was little 
to choose between actual war and a system of active legal- 
ized piracy. Even the planters and farmers, finding on 
their hands a vast amount of produce, for which a market 
was denied, were now inclined to strengthen the navy, 
that it might protect commerce, or if necessary make an 
irruption into Canada, and by that means compel Great 
Britain to repeal her odious decrees. 

France in the mean time was committing greater out- 
rages on American commerce than even England. Bo- 
aaparte issued a decree, the Rambuuillct, by which any 
American vessel that entered a French port or a port of 
any country imder French control, was declared liable to Mar 
confiscation. It shows the deUberate design of this pi- 
ratical decree, that it was not promulgated till six weeks 
after its date. The first intimation American merchants 
received of its existence, was the seizure of one hundred 
and thirty-two of their ships, in French ports. These 



574 HISTORY OF THE AilEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, were soon after sold with their cargoes, and the money, 

, amounting to eight milHons of dollars, placed in the 

isio. French treasury. Expostulations against such high-handed 
measures were treated with contempt and insult. Tht 
French minister of foreign affairs even charged the United 
States " with a want of honor, energy, and just political 
views," in not defending themselves. Bonaparte's great 
object was to drive them into a war with England, and 
thus exclude from her American produce. With this in- 
tention he pretended he would revoke the Berlin and Milan 
decrees, on condition the United States would make their 
rights respected, or in other words, go to war with Eng- 
land. At this time the only port in Europe really open 
to American commerce was that of Archangel in Russia. 
There American ships, after running the gauntlet between 
French and Danish cruisers, landed their cargoes of 
merchandise, wliich were thence smuggled into France 
and Germany. 

Ere long Bonaparte's want of money mastered his 
hatred of England, and he unblushingly became the viola- 
tor of his own decrees, and sold to the Americans, at enor- 
mous prices, licenses which gave them permission to in- 
troduce their products into French ports. 

None felt the national insult given in the Chesapeake 
affair so deeply as the naval officers. They were anx- 
iously watching for an opportunity to retaliate. 

The frigate President, Captain Rodgers, was cruising off 
the capes of Delaware, when a strange sloop-of-war gave 
chase, but when within a few miles, her signals not being 
answered, she stood to the southward. The President 
now in turn gave chase, and in the twilight of the evening 
came within hailing distance. Rodgers hailed, but was 
answered by the same question ; another hail was given 
with a similar result. The stranger fired a gun, which 
was replied to by one from the President. These were 



TECUMSEH AND THE PROPHET. 575 

succeeded by broadsides from both vessels. Tlie action ciijj'- 

lasted about twenty minutes, when the stranger was com- 

pletely disabled. Rodgers hailed again, and now was 1810. 
answered that the vessel was his Majesty's sloop-of-war \^^ 
Little Belt. The disparity in the injury done to the re- 
spective vessels was quite remarkable. The Little Belt 
had more than thirty of her crew killed and wounded, 
while the President was scarcely injured, and had only one 
person slightly wounded. The ati'air created much ex- 
citement iu both nations, and served to increase that 
alienation of feeling which had been so long in existence. 
The statements of the commanding officers ditfered very 
much as to the commencement of the encounter, but as 
each government accepted the testimony of its own officers, 
the matter was permitted to drop. 

The census just taken, showed the following result: — 
the ratio of representation was fixed at thirty-five thou^ 
sand : 

Free Whites. Slaves. All others. Totals. Reps. 

5,862.093. 1,191,364. 186,446. 7,239,903. 182. 

Events of serious interest were occurring on the western 
frontier. Numbers of Indian tribes from time to time had 
ceded their lands and moved farther west. But the in- 
satiable white man still pressed on ; his cultivated fields 
still encroached upon the Indian's hunting-grounds, and 
game was fast disappearing. When is this grasping at 
laud to end ? asked the savages of each other. Two 
brothers, twins, of the Shawnee tribe, resolved to free 
their brethren from the aggressions of the settlers. 
Their plans were well laid, and showed an intimate knowl- 
edge of the secret of influence. The one, Tecumseh, 
was to play the warrior's part, the other Elskwatawa, 
more commonly known as the Prophet, appealed to their 
superstitions ; he professed to be a wonderful medicine- 
man, and in communication with the Great Spirit. 

Tecumseh travelled from tribe to tribe, all along the 



576 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, frontiers, from north of the great lakes to the Gulf of 

Mexico, and by his eloquence endeavored to unite them 

i-Sll. in a universal conspiracy against the common enemy. 
He knew the attempt to expel the invaders would he 
vain, but he hoped his people would unite as one man, 
and refuse to sell them any more of their lands. To ac- 
complish their purpose the Indians mu^ be independent ; 
they must dispense with the few comfoits they received 
from the white man, and they must spurn the religion 
which missionaries had been laboring to teach them. The 
Projjliet fulfilled his part ; he awed his simple auditors 
with imposing powwows ; the Great Spirit had given him 
marvellous powers. He could at a word make pumpkins, 
as large as wigwams, spring out of the earth ; or ears of 
corn, each large enough to feed a dozen men ; he appealed 
to their reverence for the customs of their ancestors, and 
sneered at their degradation in being the slave of the 
white man's whiskey, or fire-water, as he significantly 
called it. He must be obeyed — they must throw aside 
the blanket and dress in skins ; instead of the gun they 
must use the ancient bow and arrow ; and the iron toma- 
hawk must give place to the stone hatchet of their fathers ; 
but above all, they must discard the religion of the white 
man ; it was the rejection of their ancient religion, which 
made the Great Si^irit so angry. 

Alarm spread along the frontier settlements. The 
Miamis had sold a portion of their lands on both sides of 
the Wabash. Tecumseh was absent at the time, but 
protested afterward, contending that as all the lands be- 
longed equally to all the Indians, no tribe had a right to 
sell a portion of them without the consent of the others. 

General William Henry Harrison, the Governor of the 
Territory of Indiana, held a conference with Tecumseh, 
who at the time professed to be friendly, but his conduct 
afterward excited suspicion. Lest the Indians should 
unexpectedly commence hostilities, Harrison marched to 



BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. 577 

the town lately established by the Prophet, at the junction chap 

of the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers. Messengers sent . 

by the Prophet met the army a few miles from the town. vsn. 
Though Indians were hovering around the army on its 
march, yet efforts to hold a conference with them had thus 
far been unsuccessful. The messengers expressed great 
surprise that the Americans should approach their town, 
since the Prophet and his people were very desirous of 
peace. Harrison assured them that he had no intention 
to engage in hostilities, unless they themselves should 
attack him, and he invited the Prophet and his chiefs to 
an interview the next day. The messengers departed ap- 
parently pleased with the proposal, and on their part 
promised full compliance. 

Knowing the Indian character, Harrison suspected 
treachery, and encamped with great caution ; his men, 
placed in a hollow square, slept upon their arms. The 
next morning, about four o'clock, the Indians suddenly 
attacked the camp, but failed to break the line. For Nov. 
three hours the contest was very severe. The Indians 
would advance with great impetuosity, and then retreat 
to renew the effort. These movements were regulated by 
signals given by rattling deers' hoofs. When daylight 
appeared, the mounted men charged, and the savages fled 
in great haste. The next day the Prophet's town was 
found to be deserted. Tecumseh himself was not present 
at the battle of Tippecanoe. 

The belhgerents of Europe still continued their ag- 
gressions upon American commerce. Eecent intelligence 
from France indicated but little prospect of obtaining re- 
dress for present grievances, while the impressment ques- 
tion made the affairs with Great Britain still more com- 
plicated. Differences of opinion prevailed, as to the best 
means of obtaining justice for these foreign aggressions. 
The people of New England, and the merchants of the 
37 



I 



578 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

i^iJAP. commercial cities and seaports of the other States, felt 

especially aggrieved by the policy of the national govern- 

1811. ment. The embargo and non-importation acts had ruined 
their commerce, and brought distress upon tens of thou- 
sands. Upon them, almost alone, had fallen the evils 
resulting from these political experiments. The people 
of the West, and of the interior of the Atlantic States, 
were in fxvor of hostilities ; their territory would be exempt 
from invasion, and they had no seaport towns to suffer 
from bombardment. Thus there were really two parties, 
the one in favor of obtaining redress by peaceful measures, 
the other by resorting to war. 

In view of these threatening indications, the Presi- 
dent, by proclamation, convened the twelfth Congress a 
N^ov. month earlier than the usual time of meeting. This 
*• Congress and the one si\cceeding are no less remarkable 
for the measures they introduced than for the unusual 
number of their members, who afterward filled a large 
space in the history of the country. It was a transition 
period. The patriots of the revolution, now venerable 
with age, were fast passing away from the councils of the 
nation, while their places were filled by more youthful 
members. Heretofore the leaders in Congress had been 
moderate in their measures, and were unwilling, unless 
for the best of reasons, to plunge the nation into a war. 

As a member of the House of Representatives, appeared 
Henry Clay, of Kentucky. The son of a Baptist clergy- 
man of Virginia, he had been l?ft at an early age a penni- 
less orphan. Struggling through many trials, his native 
eloquence had now placed him in the foremost rank of his 
country's orators. Ardent and generous, bland and yet 
imperious, as captivating in social life as he was frank in 
his public acts, he was destined to wield a mighty in- 
fluence in the councils of the nation. John C. Calhoun, 
of South Carolina, was also a member ; the close student 
and ardent theorist, dealing in first principles, he was 



I 



THREATENING ASPECT OF FOREIGN RELATIONS. 579 

logical and eloquent. His style more suited to forensic ^4?- 
debates than to popular assemblies. 

The President, in his message, directed the attention 1811 
of Congress to the threatening aspect of Foreign Kelations. 
This led to animated debates, in which the policy of peace 
or war ; the defences of the country ; the preliminary 
measures in case of a declaration of hostilities, came up 
for discussion. The speeches of the members may be 
taken as the exponents of the opinions of their constitu- 
ents. The people of the West were especially clamorous 
for war. The recent outbreak of the Indians, on the 
western frontiers, was confidently attributed to the in- 
fluence of British emissaries. This charge, though based 
upon surmises, served to increase the prejudice against 
England, and gave renewed life to the hatred of her pro- 
duced by the Revolution. 

Finally, the Committee of Foreign Relations, in their 
report to the House, recommended, in the words of the 
President, " That the United States be immediately put Dec 
into an armor and attitude demanded by the crisis ; 
that an additional force of ten thousand regulars be 
raised ; that the President be authorized to accept the 
services of fifty thousand volunteers ; and also that the 
vessels of the navy worthy of repair be fitted up and put 
in commission." Two separate resolutions were offered ; 
one authorized the merchants to arm in self-defence, and 
the other, as a j^reliminary to war, to lay an embargo for 
ninety days. After an animated discussion these were 
both rejected. 

Felix Grundy, of Tennessee, avowed that the report 
of the Committee was designed to prepare the public mind 
for war. " We are pledged," said he, " to France to con- 
tinue our restrictions against Great Britain ; we have tied 
the Gordian knot ; we cannot untie it ; we can cut it 
with the sword." " Though our restrictive system 
operates unequally, we must maintain it," He also advo- 



580 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, cated the invasion and conquest of Canada, and the re- 

caption of her inhabitants as members of the confederacy, 

1811. in order to preserve the equilibrium of the government. 
® ■ " When Louisiana," said he, " will be fully peopled, the 
Northern States will lose their power ; they will be at the 
discretion of others ; they can be depressed at pleasure." 
Therefore he was not only in favor of admitting Canada, 
but also Florida. 

John Randolph, of Virginia, in that sarcastic manner 
peculiar to himself, characterized the embargo and non- 
importation acts as most impolitic and ruinous measures 
— they had " knocked down the price of cotton to seven 
cents and tobacco to nothing," while they had increased 
the price of every article of first necessity three or four 
hundred per cent. This is the condition into which we 
have brought ourselves by our want of wisdom. But is 
war the true remedy ; who will profit by it ? Speculators, 
commissioners and contractors. Who must suffer by it ? 
The people. It is their blood, their taxes, that must 
flow to support it. Will you plunge the nation into war, 
because you have passed a foolish and ruinous law, and 
are ashamed to repeal it ? 

He indignantly repelled the charge of British attach- 
ment made against those who were not willing to rush 
into war with England. " Strange," said he, " that we 
have no objection to any other people or government, 
civilized or savage ; we find no difficulty in maintaining 
relations of peace and amity with the Autocrat of all the 
Russias ; with the Dey of Algiers and his divan of 
pirates, or Little Turtle of the Miamis, barbarians and 
savages, Turks and infidels of every clime and color, with 
them we can trade and treat. But name England, and 
all our antipathies are up in arms against her ; against 
those whose blood runs in our veins, in common with 
whom we claim Shakspeare and Milton, Newton and 
Locke, Sidney and Chatham, as brethren. Her form of 



DEBATES IN CONGRESS HENRY CLAY. ^Sl 

government, the freest on earth, except our own, and '<H4? 

from which every valuable principle of our institutions has 

been borrowed. There are honest prejudices growing out l8ii 
of the Kevolution. But by whom had they been suppress- 
ed when they ran counter to the interests of his country ? 
By Washington. By whom are they most keenly felt .'' 
By those who have fled to this abused country since the 
breaking out of the French revolution, and who have set 
themselves up as political teachers." This was in allusion 
to the editors of nearly all the papers in favor of war, who 
were 'foreigners — " these are the patriots who scruple not 
to brand with the epithet of Tory, those men by whose 
blood your liberties have been cemented." 

Henry Clay urged, in reply, that the only means left 
to obtain the recognition of oui national rights was to 
fight for them. A war would produce the repeal of the 
Orders in Council, and give us commerce and character ; 
the nation by this mongrel peace would not only lose its 
commerce, but its honor. If we yield one point, presently 
another will be demanded ; our only safety is to defend 
the nation's rights ; — even if the seaboard should be sub- 
dued, yet the energy of the West would save the liberties 
of the country. Shall we bear the cuffs and scoffs of Sept 
British arrogance, because we fear French subjugation ? 
Vv'^ho ever learned, in the school of base submission, the 
lessons of noble freedom, and courage, and independence !" 

On the other side of the House, it was admitted that 
causes for war existed, but were they sufficient to justify 
the government of the United States in rushing unpre- 
pared into a contest with the most powerful nation on 
earth ? This was the (Question to be decided by Congress. 
" What are we to gain by war ? " asked Sheffey of Vir- 
ginia. " Shall we throw away a trade of thirty-two millions 
with Great Britain for two with France ? Peace is our 
policy ; we are now the most prosperous and happy 
people on earth. This is more to us, than all the Orders 



5. 



582 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, in Council or the trade with France. We cannot brine 
XLII. ^ . . 

. Great Britain to terms by embargo and non-importation 

1811. acts ; neither can we starve the world by refusing to ex- 
port our surjilus grain. Our revenue is low enough now, 
in time of war it will be almost nothing. We should be 
willing to fight for the rights of impressed native-born 
Americans, but not for the right to harbor deserters from 
the British service." — "Is this embargo a preparation for 
war ? " asked Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts. " We have 
no information that England intends war. It is her 
policy to continue commerce with us, not to destroy it. 
But we are told that the object is to protect our merchants. 
Heaven heli) them from embargo protection ! The mer- 
chants have petitioned — not for embargo — not for com- 
mercial eml>arrassment and annihilation — but for pro- 
tection." 

1812. While these debates were in progress in the House, the 
same general subject was under discussion in the Senate. 
In both Houses an unusual number of southern members 
were now in favor of making the navy more efficient. It 
was urged that the only way to bring Great Britain to 
terms was by harassing her commerce on the ocean. To 
do this a fleet was needed. " Create a fleet of thirty frigates," 
said Lloyd, of Massachusetts, " and New England alone 
will officer it in five weeks." " How can we contend with 
the most colossal power the world ever saw, except by our 
navy, scattered over the -ocean, requiring ten times as 
many British vessels to watch them P Adopt this policy, 
and soon the English people would ask their government, 
Why this war upon our trade ? why violate the rights of 
Americans .?' For whose benefit 'is this war ? Soon you 
will force the people of the United States to become their 

' "They (the Orders in Council) were grievously unjust to neutrals, and 
it is now (1S50) generally allowed that they were contrary to the law ol' na- 
tions, and to our own municipal laws." — Lord Chief Justice Campbell, it 
his Lives of the Chancellors, vol vM. p. 218. 



THE PEESIDENT KECOMMENDS WAK. 583 

Dwn manufacturers ; you will stimulate them to Ijecome ^3^ 

a naval power, which one day may dispute with you the 

supremacy of the ocean." " In a short time the English 1813 
government would be compelled to repeal its odious de- 
crees." " To protect commerce is to aid agriculture, to 
benefit the northern as well as the middle and southern 
States. Moreover, it is essential to the preservation of 
the Union ; the commercial States will not endure that 
their rights should be systematically trampled upon from 
year to year, and they denied the defence whicli the God 
of nature has given them." 

The discussions of these five months had a great influ- 
ence upon the public mind. Though unwilling to use 
liarsher measures than to authorize the merchants to de- 
fend themselves by arming their ships, the President sent 
a special message to Congress recommending an embargo 
for sixty days. The bill was amended by substituting 
ninety for sixty, in which form it passed, debate being cut A;)rL 
short by the rule of the previous question. 

One month and a half later, intelligence from Franco 
made known that Bonaparte, in violation of his vv'ord, had 
declared the obnoxious decrees of Berlin and Milan hence- 
forth the settled policy of the Empire. Thus the Emperor June 
had entrapped the President. But England was as much 
in the wrong as France, and if so, why not declare war 
against both ? — It was openly avowed in Parliament that 
the offensive decrees and blockades must be maintained, 
or France could receive raw material from the United 
States ; continue her manufactures, and thus obtain the 
means to carry on the war. Great Britain also wished to 
secure for her own people the monopoly of commerce, as 
well as that of manufacturing for the world. 

The President finally sent another message to Congress, 
in which he recapitulated the wrongs inflicted by England 
in her impressments and violations of the rights of neutrals. 
This was plainly a war message, and in accordance with 



.hine 
18. 



584 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

'"H-'^f- that view, a bill was drawn up declarins; war agaiiisl 

xi.ii. . '. . 

Great Britain. It was passed by a strictly party vote : — 

181-2. in the House 79 to 49, in the Senate 19 to 13. 

The people were far from being unanimous in their 
approbation of the declaration of war. The minority of 
the Lower House of Congress published an address to 
their constituents, in which the views of those opposed to 
the war found expression. After a review of the contro- 
versy between the United States and the belligerents, they 
contend there was equal cause for hostilities against both 
England and France ; that it was unreas(jnable to expect 
the full recognition of neutrals' rights while the desperate 
conflict in Europe was in jjrogress ; that conflict would 
soon end, and then the cause for warden our part would be 
removed. The Address says, " The effect of the British 
orders of blockade, is to deprive us of the commerce of 
France and her dependencies, while they leave open to us 
the commerce of all the rest of the world ; the former 
worth yearly about six millions and a half, and the latter 
worth thirty-eight millions. Shall the latter be sacrificed 
for the former ? . A nation like the United States, happy 
in its great local relations ; removed from that bloody 
theatre of Europe, with a maritime border opening vast 
fields of enterprise ; with territorial possessions exceeding 
every real want ; its firesides safe ; its altars undefiled ; 
from invasion nothing to fear ; from acquisition nothing 
to hope, how shall such a nation look to Heaven for its 
smiles, while throwing away as though they were worth 
less, all the blessings and joys which peace and such a 
distinguished lot include ? But how will war upon the 
land protect commerce ? How are our mariners to be 
benefited by a war which exposes those who are free, 
without promising release to those who are impressed ? 
But it is said that war is demanded by honor. If honor 
demands a war with England, what opiate lulls that 
honor to sleep over the wrongs done us by France ? " 



THE EMBARRASSMENTS OF CONGRESS. 585 

Such was the diversity of opinion as to the expediency ^^^• 

of engaging in war, especially when the country, in every 

respect, was so unprepared. The opponents of the measure 1812 
were assailed as unpatriotic, which they retorted by charg- 
ing the advocates of war with subserviency to the policy 
of France. 

It was easier for Congress to declare war, than to ob- 
tain the means to prosecute it. The treasury was almost 
empty, the non-importation acts, and embargoes, liad 
nearly ruined the revenue ; the army was very limited in 
number, and very deficient in officers of experience ; while 
the navy was wanting in ships and munitions. Congress 
passed a bill to enlist twenty-five thousand men as regu- 
lars, and authorized the President to accept the services 
of fifty thousand volunteers. 

In appointing officers for the army, recourse was 
had, almost exclusively, to those who had served in the 
Revolution ; but the most prominent of these had jjassed 
away, and the remainder, with but one or two exceptions, 
had been engaged in civil affairs for thirty years ; and 
men competent to drill the recruits were not to be found. 
To remedy this want. Congress, now for the first time, 
made provision for the constant and liberal instruction of 
two hundred and fifty cadets in the military art, by estab- 
lishing professorships in the Academy at West Point. 
Here was another instance of the foresight of Washing- 
ton. He had, during his administration, urged upon Con- 
gress to establish and maintain a school in wliich military 
tactics should be taught to officers, who in turn could 
easily drill the militia. The wise policy of the measure 
was amply shown in the rapidity with which the American 
volunteers were drilled and made efficient soldiers in the 
late Mexican war. But for the present the nation suffered i84ft 
severely from false economy in not founding the Academy 
when first proposed. 

The first exhibition of the war spirit and the party 



586 HISTORY 0J» THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, feeling which existed was an attempt to stifle the freedom of 

the press. The editor of a paper in Baltimore, Alexander 

1812. Hanson, a grandson of a president of the coutinental con- 
gress, had spoken in moderate terms in condemnation of the 
June declaration of war. A few days after, the moh, headed by 
a Frenchman, destroyed his press and compelled him to 
fly for his life. Receiving no protection in his rights, as 
the magistrates connived at the outrage, Hanson and same 
twenty others thought it their duty to vindicate the 
liberty of the press. Among this number was General 
■ Henry Lee, — the chivalric Light Horse Harry of the Rev- 
olution, — the intimate friend of Washington, his eulo- 
gist by appointment of Congress, afterward Grovernor of 
Virginia, and General Lingan, also a worthy officer of the 
Revolution. They determined to defend the office of the 
paper. The mob appeared and stoned the house ; the 
magistrates meanwhile made no effort to quell the riot. 
Thus the rabble raged during the night ; in their attempts 
to force their way into the house, one of the ringleaders 
was shot. Genei-al Lingan was killed outright, and some 
of the other defenders of the othce were most shamefully 
mangled and abused. General Lee was maimed for life. 
The leaders of the riot were never punished, though 
afterwards brought to trial, — a mere farce, — the district 
attorney even expressing his regret that all the defenders 
of the office had not been killed. 

General William Hull, who had served with some dis- 
tinction in the Revolution, and now Governor of Michigan 
Territory, was appointed commander of the forces in that 
region. The Territory contained about five thousand in- 
habitants, mostly of French origin. He received orders to 
invade Canada, the ardent friends of the war comi)lacently 
thinking the inhabitants of that British province would 
cheerfully put themselves under the protection of the 
stars and stripes. Hull, however, found himself in a short 
time surrounded by a superior force of British and In- 



GENERAL HULL SURRENDERS HIS ARMY. 587 

dians ; the enemy also held possession of Lake Erie, aud ^?}'^f' 

_had easy communication with the rest of Canada, while . 

between Hull's army and the settlements, intervened a 1812. 
vast and unbroken forest of two hundred miles. He 
urged upon the government to secure the command of the 
Lake before any attempt should be made at invasion, and 
also to furnish him not less than three thousand well pro- 
visioned troojis. But he was told that he must content 
himself with two thousand men, while nothing could be 
done to secure the control uf the Lake. 

When Hull arrived at Detroit, then a village of some /uly 
eight hundred inhabitants, he had but eighteen hundred 
men, of whom the greater part were militia ; there he re- 
ceived orders to invade Canada immediately. But by a 
strange blunder, the intelligence of the declaration of war, 
designed for Hull, and franked by the Secretary of the 
Treasury, fell into the hands of the British. They availed 
themselves of the information, and immediately seized Mack- 
inaw ; the first intimation the garrison of that distant post 
received of the declaration of war. In a short time Hull 
himself was surrounded, and his communications cut off. 

The British general Proctor came up the Lake with 
reinforcements, whilst the British Fur Company enlisted 
their employees and excited the Indians. To open a road 
and obtain supplies, HuU sent out a detachment, but it 
feU into an ambuscade and was defeated. He now fortified 
himself, and to open communications to the river Eaisin, 
sent another detachment under Colonels McArthur and 
Cass ; they became bewildered in a swamp, and were forced Aug 
to find their way hack to the camp. !*• 

Presently General Brock, governor of Lower Canada, 
arrived at Maiden with more reinforcements. He passed 
over the river and summoned Hull to surrender, who re- 
fused, and an attack was made upon his position, both 
from the British vessels and batteries. Brock landed and 
approached with seven hundred and fifty regulars, and as 



16. 



558 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^[AP. many Indians. Hull had but eight hundred men, and 

. threatened with destruction, as he imagined, by an over-. 

1812. whelming force, he surrendered his army and all Michigan 

Auk. at the same time. 

Great indignation was expressed at this failure. The 
difficulties of Hull's position were very great, and perhaps, 
while no one doubted his personal courage, he may have 
wanted that sternness of soul so necessary to a successful 
commander. Those in authority screened themselves, by 
making the unfortunate general the scape-goat for their 
blunders, in sending him with a force and means so inade- 
quate. When brought to trial, two years afterward, he 
urged in defence, that all the inhabitants of tlie territory 
would have been exposed to certain massacre had he at- 
tempted further resistance. The court, however, found 
him guilty of cowardice, and sentenced him to be shot ; 
but in consideration of his revolutionary services, the Presi- 
dent granted him a pardon. His impers, since published, 
have revealed the insurmountable difficulties that sur- 
rounded him. 

It is remarkable that one of the causes of the war, was 
removed within four days after its declaration. France 
unconditionally repealed the Berlin and Milan decrees, 
then Great Britain repealed her Orders in Council, which 
had been based on the French decrees. The impressment 
question still remained unsettled. Nearly six thousand 
cases of alleged impressment were on record in the State 
Department at Washington. It was admitted on the 
floor of the House of Commons, that there were probably 
sixteen hundred native-born Americans held in bondage 
in the British navy. Of these several hundred had already 
been liberated, and a willingness was expressed to dis- 
charge the remainder, as soon as their nationality was 
fully known. But the British naval officers complained 
that the plea of American citizenship was very much 
abused ; by forged documents, or by certificates, originally 



AMERICAN SHIPS IN ENGLISH POETS. 589 

genuine, but transferred from one seaman to another as oc- '^^J' 

casion 'required. The English government, moreover, was so 

trammelled by forms that very seldom could the impressed 1812 
sailor obtain redress ; all such cases must be brought be- 
fore the Court of Admiralty in London, to reach which 
was almost impossible. 

This, after all, was to be a war to protect personal free- 
dom ; to obtain security from the visits to our ships of 
British press-gangs, led by insolent officers, and as such 
took hold of the sympathies of the American people. 
But Britain said, pass a law prohibiting our seamen from 
enlisting in your service, and we will not search your 
ships. The reply was, the flag of the United States must 
shield those seeking its protection. This sentiment ap- 
peared to England very like an effort to seduce her sea- 
men from their allegiance. 

When intelligence of the declaration of war reached 
England, the government acted generously in relation to 
the American vessels in its ports. Instead of being con- Aag, 
fiscated as in France, these ships were permitted six 
weeks to load and unload, and in addition were furnished 
with protections against capture by English cruisers on 
their way home. Yet these very vessels and their car- 
goes were liable to confiscation, when they should arrive 
in their own land, and that by a law of Congress ! 

As one of the causes of the war had been removed, 
Foster, the British Minister at Washington, proposed a 
cessation of hostilities until another effort should be made 
to arrange the impressment question. This proposal was 
not accepted by the American government. Not until 
all hope of reconciliation was passed, did the English au- 
thorities issue letters of marque and reprisal against 
American commerce ; and they still conthrued to grant 
licenses and protection to American vessels carrying flour 
to Spain for the use of the British armies in that country. 

Hull's surrender threw a shadow over the prospect of 



590 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, conquering Canada. Strenuous efforts were made to in- 

1 crease the army on the frontiers of New York. Major 

1812. General Dearborn, who, when a youth, had served in the 
Eevolution, and had been Secretary of War, under Jeffer- 
son, had under his command, in the vicinity of Late Cham- 
plain, five thousand troops, three thousand of whom were 
regulars ; and two thousand militia were stationed at 
different points on the St. Lawrence, east of Sackett's 
Harbor, while another army, miscellaneous in character, 
being composed of regulars, volunteers and militia, was 
stationed at different points from the village of Buffalo to 
Fort Niagara. The latter troops were under the com- 
mand of General Van Rensselaer. 

To insure success the Americans must have the con- 
trol of the Lakes Erie and Ontario ; on the latter they 
had already a little sloop-of-war, of sixteen guns, and 
manned by a regular crew. Captain Chauncey, of the 
Sept. navy yard at New York, was appointed to the command 
of the Lakes. He purchased some merchant vessels, and 
fitted them out with guns and other equipments, brought 
from Albany, at an immense amount of labor. He soon 
however swept the Lake of British ships, which took 
refuge in Kingston harbor ; the Frontenac of the times of 
French rule in that quarter. Lieutenant Elliot, in the 
mean time, was sent to equip a fleet on Lake Erie. By 
a daring exploit he cut out from under the guns of Fort 
Oct. Erie, two British armed vessels, which had just come 
^- down the Lake from Detroit. 

The invasion of Canada commenced by an attempt to 
obtain possession of Queenstown, on Niagara river. Owing 
to a deficiency of boats, only about six hundred men, 
partly regulars and partly militia, passed over. Colonel 
S. Van Eenssehier, who commanded the militia, became 
separated from his men, and Colonel Christie, who com- 
manded the regulars, failed on account of the rapidity of 
the current to reach the shore. Those who landed were 



DEATH OF GENERAL BROCK AMERICAN PRISONERS. 591 

immediately attacked with great vigor. Kensselaer soon ^^^'\f- 

fell, woimded, but lie ordered Captains Ogilvie and Wool 

to storm the battery, which they did in fine style, 1S12. 

driving the Briti.sh into a strong stone house, from which 

they could not be dislodged. General Brock, the same 

to whom Hull surrendered a few months before, was Oct. 

. 13. 
in command. Suddenly he headed a sortie from this 

house, which was promptly repulsed, and he himself 

slain. 

During this time, a space of five or six hours, the 
Americans were striving to pass the river, but only five 
or six hundred succeeded. Suddenly a band of Indians 
emerged from the woods, and joined in the fray ; these 
were soon put to flight by Lieutenant Winfield Scott, 
who, with a company of regulars, volunteered for the pur- 
pose. The want of boats, and the want of system, bad 
prevented a suitable number of Americans from passing 
over. In the mean while General Sheafe was advancing 
from Fort George, with reinforcements for the British. 
This intelligence, together with the sight of the wounded, 
who were brought in boats to the American side, somewhat 
cooled the ardor of the militia, and they refused to pass 
the river to aid their countrymen. Their wits were also 
sharpened, and they suddenly discovered that their com- 
mander had no constitutional authority to lead them into 
Canada. The result was, that those who had gone over, 
about one thousand in number, were compelled to surren- 
der themselves prisoners of war. General Van Kensselaer, 
mortified at the want of spirit manifested on the occasion, 
resigned his command in disgust. 

Inefficiency reigned in triumph all along the frontier. 
An expedition against Detroit, under the command of 
Harrison, was abandoned for want of means. The volun- 
teers from Kentucky, as well as others, became mutinous 
and refused to advance. One failure followed another in 
rapid succession. The officers were quarrelling amonsj 



1807. 



592 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

CHAP, themselves, chaiffing each other with cowardice and 

"STT TT cj <j 

'- fighting bloodless duels, while the soldiers deserted in 

bands, and those who remained were iusubordinafce. These 
failures were unsparingly ridiculed ia the newspapers 
opposed to the war. 

Soon after the establishment of the Government the 
religious poition of the people began to inquire as to their 
duty in sending the Gospel to the heathen of other lands. 
Samuel J. Mills ,ind some other students of Williams Col- 
lege consecrated themselves to the work of foreign missions. 
A monument — a marble shaft surmounting a globe — in 
Mills Park, just outside the village, marks the cpot where 
these students met behind a haystack to confer with each 
other and consecrate themselves to the work of evangelizing 
the heathen. The result was the formation of the Ameri- 

1810. can Board of Missions, which has had a remarkable success 
in e.xtending tlie knowledge of the Gospel and introducing 
a Christian civilization in remote heathen lands. This 
Society was specially patronized by the Congregationalists 
and Presbyterians ; the latter, after twenty-one years of co- 
operation, withdrew and formed the Presbyterian Board of 

1833. Foreign Missions. Meanwhile other denominations entered 
with zeal upon tne work — the Baptists (1814), the Metho- 
dist Episcopal (1819), Reformed Dutch Church (1^32), 
Protestant Episcopal (1835), and afterward others ; in all 
fifteen societies were formed. Under the control of these 
societies the missionaries and nativo teachers whom they 

jgyg have trained now number many thousands. The exertions 
of these devoted men have been crowned with remarkable 
success ; they have displayed much practical wisdom in the 
management of the missions, and have translated the 
Scriptures into the languages of the various people with 
whom they labored. For these evidences of their scholar- 
ship and their enlightened zeal they have oftentimes re- 
ceived the commendations and thanks of European educated 
men and statesmen. 



CHAPTER XLIIl. 

MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED. 

Tlie VeBselB of the Navy. — The chase of the Constitution.— Capture of the 
Alert. — The Guerriere. — Incidents.— The Macedonian. — The Frolic. — 
The Java. — Tlie effects of these Naval Conflicts in the United States 
and England. — Plan of Operations.— Harrison advances on Detroit. — 
General Winchester a Prisoner; Indian Barbarities. — The Kentuckians 
fall into an Ambu.^cade. — Repulse at Fort Stephenson. — The loss of the 
Chesapeal<e. — Perry's Victory. — Battle of the Thames. — Andrew Jack- 
eon.' — Leads an E.tpedition ; its Termination. — York captured ; Death 
of General fike. — Wilkinson transferred to the North. — Another at- 
tempt to conquer Canada. — Fort George destroyed ; Newark burned. — 
The severe Retaliation. — The American Coast blockaded. — Ravages on 
the Shores of Chesapeake Bay. — Indian War in the South. —Jackson 
and others in the Field. — Battle at the Great Horse Shoe. — Cjptain 
Porter's Cruise. 

While the disasters recorded in the last chapter were chap. 

in progress, the despised little navy had won laurels, by a ' 

series of victories as unexpected as they were glorious. ]^gj2. 
When the war commenced, the whole navy of the United 
States in commission, consisted of only three first-class 
frigates ; the President, the Constitution, and the United 
States ; of the second class two, the Congress and the 
Essex ; the Wasp and Hornet, sloops-of-war ; and the 
brigs Argus, Syren, Nautilus, Enterprise, and Vixen. 
The second class frigates Chesapeake, Constellation, and 
John Adams, were undergoing repairs. The fleet was 
ordered to assemble at New York to be in readiness to 
defend harbors, and not to venture to sea, lest it should 
38 



594 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, fall in the hands of the enemy ; a result which had been 

XLIII. . ■ U ■ 

, predicted again and again. Owing to the urgent remon- 

1812. strances of Captains Stewart and Bainbridge, the intention 
of thus withdrawing the navy was abandoned. Within a 
few hours after the declaration of war was known in New 
York, a portion of the fleet was passing out to sea, in 
search of the enemy. This prompt movement was made 
for the double purpose of avoiding the orders, which the 
officers suspected were on the way from Washington, to 
detain them in the harbor, and to make a dash at the 
Jamaica fleet, said to be passing under convoy off the coast. 
When two days out, they chased and exchanged shots 
with the British frigate Belvidera, which, however, escaped 
and carried the news of the commencement of hostilities 
to Halifax. The Americans continued the pursuit of the 
Jamaica fleet, even to the entrance of the British Channel, 
but without overtaldng it. 

Meanwhile a British squadron issued from Halifax, to 
cruise oif the port of New York. The Constitution, bettei 
known as Old Ironsides, commanded by Captain Isaac 
HuU, in endeavoring to enter that port fell in with this 
fleet, and was chased by all its vessels for four days — the 
most remarkable chase on record. The unexampled skill 
with which she was managed, elicited universal admira- 

Jnly. tion. Every nautical device was exhausted ; such as 
during a calm carrying out anchors and dropping them, 
and then pulling the ship up ; in the mean while, when 
opportunity served, exchanging shots with her adversaries. 
Finally she escaped into Bofeton. Orders from Wasliing- 
ton were sent to Captain HuU to remain there ; but he 
anticipated them, and put to sea before they arrived. 

The Essex was the first to capture a prize — a trans- 
port filled with soldiers — and shortly after, the British 
sloop-of-war Alert. The latter mistook the Essex for a 
merchantman, and came on expecting an easy victory, but 



CAPTURE OF THE GUEEEIEKE INCIDEXTS. 595 

fouiKl herself so severely liandlcd, that in a few minutes ^f^^- 
she was faiu to strike her colors. 

Off the mouth of the St. Lawrence, Captain Hull fell 1812. 
in with the British frigate Guerriere, one of the fleet 
which had recently chased him. The Guerriere was on 
the look-out for " Yankee craft ; " on one of her flags was 
the inscription, Not the Little Belt. Courting the combat, 
she shortened sail, and at long range opened upon the 
approaching Constitution ; the latter did not fire a gun, 
but manosuvred to obtain a desirable position. Thus an 
hour and a half was consumed. When the Constitution 
secured her position, she poured in her broadsides with 
such rapidity and effect, that the enemy struck his colors 
in thirty minutes. So completely was the Guerriere cut 
to pieces, that it was impossible to bring her into port, 
.and Hull ordered her to be burned. The Guerriere had A."S 
seventy-nine killed and wounded, while the Constitution 
had only seven, and was ready for action the next day. 
In connection with this encounter may be related two in- 
cidents, which show the spirit on board the respective 
ships. When the Constitution came within cannon-shot, 
the opening fire from the Guerriere killed two men. The 
men were impatient to avenge their companions, and 
Lieutenant Morris came on deck, and asked, " Can we re- 
turn the fire, sir ? " " No, sir," calmly replied Hull. Soon 
after, Morris came again, and reported that another man 
was slain, and asked again, " Shall we return the fire?" 
" No, sir," was still the reply. For the third time, Morris 
soon appeared : " Can we fire now ? " Hull, pausing a mo- 
ment to survey the position of the ships, replied, " Yes, sir, 
you majjire now." The order was promptly obeyed, and 
Hull, with his eye intently fixed upon the enemy, ex- 
claimed, when he saw the effect, " That ship is ours ! " 

On board the Guerriere were ten impressed Americans. 
They refused to fight against their countrymen, and were 
ordered below. One of them was afterward called upon 



596 HISTORY OF THE AMEEIC'AN PEOPLE, 

CHAP, deck, aiid asked by Captain Dacres if lie knew the cliar- 

XLIII. ' . . 

acter of the approaching ship. He answered she was a 

1S12. frigate. As she drew nearer, and merely manoeuvred, and 
made no reply with her guns, Dacres, somewhat puzzled, 
inquired again, " What does she mean ? Do you think she is 
going to strike without firing a gun ? " "I guess not, sir," 
replied the American ; " she will get the position she 
wants, and you will then learn her intentions ; with your 
permission, sir, I will step below." 

The United States, Captain Decatur, when cruising 
off the Azores, gave chase to a British frigate, which 
proved to be the Macedonian. A running fight com- 

Oct. menced, which terminated by the Macedonian striking her 

^'^- colors, after losing one hundred out of her three hundred 
men, while the United States lost only five men and seven 
wounded. The other ships made several prizes on their 
cruise. The Argus escaped by superior seamanship, after 
being chased three days by sis vessels, and took and 
manned a prize during the chase. The Wasp, Captain 
Jones, met the British brig Frolic, acting as a convoy for 
six merchantmen ; to protect them she shortened sail and 
offered battle. The Wasp watched her opportunity, 

Oct. raked her antagonist, and then immediately boarded. The 
Ijoarders found the deck of the Frolic covered with the 
slain, and only one man unhurt, who was calmly standing 
at the wheel, and one or two wounded officers, who threw 
down their swords. Not twenty of the crew were unhurt. 
The Wasp had only five killed and as many wounded. 
But before she could make sail, the Poictiers seventy-four 
came up, and took both vessels. 

Hull resigned the command of the Constitution, and 
Bainbridge was appointed in his place. Off the coast of 
Brazil the Constitution gave chase to a British frigate, 
the Java. The fight began at the distance of a mile, and 
was continued with gi-eat spirit, each manceuvriug to get 
the advantage. At length they approached so closely as 



13. 



EFFECTS PRODUCED BY THE NAVAL VICTORIES. 597 

to fight yard-arm and yard-arm. The Java's masts ^^AY; 

were shot away, and her fire silenced. The Constitution 

drew off to repair her rigging, and then approached to 1S13. 
renew the conflict, which tiie Java prevented by striking 
her flag. Nearly half of her men, numbering four liim- 
dred, were killed or wounded, while the Constitution had 
only nine killed and twenty-five wounded ; among the J*^"- 
latter was her commander. There being no friendly port 
in that part of the world to which he could take his prize, 
Bainbridge ordered her to be set on fire and blown np. 

It is difficult to conceive the exultation with which 
these victories were hailed in the United States. The 
very great disparity in the losses sustained by the respect- 
ive combatants had excited surprise in both nations. 
The English loss of men in killed and wounded, compared 
with that of .the Americans, was as eight to one. There 
could be no doubt but the ships of the latter had been 
better managed and better fought. The English people, 
we learn from the newspapers of the day, were deeply mor- 
tified at the loss of their frigates. One of the papers asked, 
" Shall England, the mistress of the seas and dictator of 
the maritime law of nations, be driven from her proud 
eminence by a piece of striped bunting flying at the mast- 
heads of a few fir-built frigates, manned-^ by a handful of 
bastards and outlaws ? " Some were thus abusive, but 
others were more respectftil, and even found consolation in 
the fact that the Americans were the descendants of 
Englishmen. Says the London Times : " We witnessed 
the gloom which that event (the capture of the Gruerri^re) 
cast over high and honorable minds ; it is not merely that 
an English frigate has been taken after a brave resistance, 
but it has been by a new enemy." And apprehensions 
were expressed that their maritime superiority was about 
to be challenged, if not taken away, by this new rival, 
which had so suddenly sprung into existence. " The 
mourning for this last most affecting event, (the capture 



■j98 history of the American people. 

CHAP, of the Java,) can never be laid aside till the lienor 

of the British flag shall be redeemed, by establishing 

1813. the same triumphant superiority over the Americans 
that we have heretofore had over all the nations that tra- 
verse the seas. Five hundred British vessels and three 
frigates have been captured in seven months by the 
Americans. Can the English people hear this unmoved "? 
Down to this moment not an American frigate has struck 
her flag. They insult and laugh at us ; they leave their 
ports when they please ; and return when it suits their 
convenience ; they traverse the Atlantic ; they beset the 
West India Islands ; they advance to the very chops oi 
the Channel ; they parade along the coast of South 
America ; nothing chases, nothing intercejjts, nothing 
engages them, but yields to them a triumph." 

To account for these unexamisled victories, some said 
the American frigates were Seventy-fours in disguise ; 
others that their guns were heavier than those of their op- 
ponents. The latter supposition may have been true to 
some extent. But national self-complacency found more 
consolation in the conjecture, that the spirit of the Ameri- 
can navy ought to be imputed to the few runaway British 
sailors enlisted in it ! 

The American privateers maintained the honor of the 
nation as much as the regular navy. Much more would 
have. been accomplished, but the majority of the mer- 
chants were loth to send privateers to prey upon the prop- 
erty of their commercial friends and correspondents. As 
it was, more than three hundred prizes were taken, three 
thousand prisoners, and a vast amount of merchandise 

Changes were made in the President's cabinet. Gen- 
eral John Armstrong — the author of the famous Anony- 
mous Address, at the close of the Revolution — was ap- 
pointed Secretary of War in place of WiUiam Eustis, of 
Massachusetts, resigned. James Monroe still remained 



THE ARMIES THE DISASTER AT THE RAISIN. 599 

at tliu bead of the State Dej^artment, and Albert Galla- ^?A? 

tin at tbat of the Treasury, an office which he held under . 

Jefferson. isls 

The surrender of Hull aroused the warlike spirit of the 
West, and volunteers presented themselves in great num- 
bers. The Americans were divided into three armies. 
That of the west, at the head of Lake Erie, under General 
Harrison ; that of the centre, between Lakes Erie and 
Ontario, under General Dearborn, and that of the north 
in the vicinity of Lake Champlain, under General Wade 
Hamilton. A similar arrangement was made by the 
British. Sir George Prevost was in chief command of 
the forces in Canada, General Proctor commanded the 
troops stationed near Detroit, and General Sheafe those 
in the neighborhood of Montreal and the Sorel river. 

To recover what Hull had lost, Harrison moved toward 
Detroit and Maiden ; meantime General Winchester ad- 
vanced with eight hundred volunteers, chiefly young men 
from Kentucky. That State swarmed with soldiers, 
drawn from every rank in society. As he drew near the 
Maumce Piapids, Winchester learned that a body of Brit- 
ish and Indians was in possession of Frenchtown, on the 
river Eaisin. He sent a detachment, which routed the 
enemy, and maintained its position until he himself came 
up. When General Proctor learned of the approach of 
Winchester, he hastened across the lake on the ice from 
Maiden, with fifteen hundred British and Indians, to cut 
him off, before Harrison could give aid. The attack was Jan 
made on the American camp before daylight. In the 
midst of the confusion Winchester was taken prisoner. 
Proctor promised him security for the safety of his men, 
and thus induced him to surrender them as prisoners. 
Fearing the approach of Harrison, Proctor retreated as 
rapidly as possible to Maiden, and in violation of his 
pledges, he left the wounded Americans. 

The Indians turned back and murdered great numbers 



22. 



GOO HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, of them, and carried the remainder to Detroit ; for some 

of these they demanded enormous ransoms, and others 

1813. they reserved for tortures. The conduct of Proctor, in 
thus breaking his word, and violating the principles ol 
common humanity, excited against the enemy the bitterest 
feelings of revenge. " Remember the Kaisin ! " became 
the war-cry of the Kentuckians. 

Harrison advanced to the rapids, and there established 
a i^ost, which in honor of the Grovernor of Ohio, he named 
Fort Meigs. There he was besieged, in the course of a 
few months, by a large force of British and their Indian 
allies. Learning that General Green Clay, of Kentucky, 
was descending the Maumee with twelve hundred men in 
boats, Harrison sent orders for half the men to land and 
seize the enemy's batteries on the north side of the river, 
spike their guns, and then come to the Fort, wlience a 
sortie was to be made against the main batteries on the 
south side. The first order was fulfilled, and the British 
routed ; but instead of hastening to the Fort, the Ken- 
tuckians became unmanageable, and pursued a few In- 
dians, who led them into an ambuscade prepared by the 
cunning Tecumseh. They were in turn routed by the 
Indians and a detachment of British soldiers, and of the 
Kentuckians only about one hundred and fifty escaped. 
Nevertheless Proctor was alarrned ; the force of the Ameri- 
cans was unknown, and as the Indians began to desert, 
M"y- he commenced a hurried retreat across the lake to Maiden. 
Two months after. Proctor agaic appeared before Fort 
Meigs, now under the command of Clay. Not able to 
take it, and having learned that Fort Stephenson, on the 
Sandusky, had a small garrison, Proctor left Tecumseh 
with his Indians to besiege Fort Meigs, while he himself 
went against Fort Stephenson. This fort had a garrison 
of only one hundred and sixty young men, commanded 
by Major George Croghan, a youth in his twenty-second 
year. When summoned to surrender, he replied that he 



THE LOSS OF THE CHESAPEAKE. 



601 



3. 



should defend the fort till the last man was buried in its |^j^j^- 

ruins. The siege commenced, and when a breach was 

made, the British regulars, at the word of their Colonel, Isis- 
who cried out, " Come on, give the Yankees no quarter," 
rushed to the assault. As they crowded into the ditch, 
the only cannon in the fort opened from a masked port 
hole. The gun was loaded with a double charge of musket "^' 
balls ; the effect was terrific, the enemy fled in confusion, 
and abandoned the siege. The Indians at the first repulse 
deserted, as usual. 

Meanwhile there had been other conflicts at sea. 
Captain James Lawrence, in command of the Hornet, had 
captured the Peacock off the coast of South America. Feb, 
The ships were equal in size and equii^meuts. The action 
lasted but fifteen minutes. The Peacock raised signals of 
distress, for she was sinking rapidly, and in spite of the 
efforts of both crews she went down, carrying with her 
some of her own men and three of the Hornet's. On his 
return, Lawrence was appointed to the command of the 
frigate Chesapeake, then in Boston harbor, undergoing 
repairs and enlisting a crew. 

The British frigate Shannon, Captain Broke, had ap- 
peared off the harbor as if offering a challenge. The im- 
petuous Lawrence put to sea, notwithstanding tbe de- 
ficiency of his crew, some of whom were much dissatisfied 
on account of back arrearages of prize money of a former 
cruise. The ship was also deficient in ofiicers, the first 
lieutenant being unable from illness to go on board. The 
contest was witnessed by thousands from the hiUs and ^'i"** 
house tops. When the ships met, the Chesapeake be- 
came entangled with the Shannon in such a manner as to 
be exposed to a raking fire. Lawrence, mortaUy wounded 
at the commencement of the battle, was carried below. 
This created confusion for a few minutes, and Broke 
noticing that the fire had slackened, promptly gave orders 
to board, leading the men himself Tbe American 



602 HISTORY OF THE A3IEEICAN PEOPLE. 

•^H-^P- boarders Lad iust been called, and but few of tliem wera 
j'et upon deck ; after a band to band figbt, tbe Cbesa- 



1813. peake's colors were bauled down. The captor sailed im- 
mediately to Halifax. Tbere Captain Lawrence died. 
He was buiied witb military bonors and marks of respect. 
Afterward bis remains were removed to New York. His 
last command, " Don't give up tbe sbip," lias become tbe 
watchword in tbe American navy. 

Tlie rejoicings in England over the capture of the 
Chesapeake were so great as to become highly compli- 
mentary to the Americans, to whom they were as gratify- 
ing as if tbe Shannon had been captured. It was an un- 
equivocal evidence of tbe respect that the navy bad inspired. 

Tbe same spirit which bad done so much honor to the 
nation on tbe ocean, displayed itself on tbe lakes. The 
random incursions of undisciplined volunteers accom- 
plished nothing until the control of the lakes was secured. 
A youthful lieutenant in tbe United States navy, Oliver 
Hazard Perry, a native of Newport, Ebode Island, volun- 
teered for that service. Commodore Chauucey appointed 
bim to the command of tbe fleet on Lake Erie. After 
much labor. Perry built and fitted out at tbe port of Erie, 
nine vessels of various sizes, from one carrying twenty- 
five guns down to those which carried only one. The 
American fleet had altogether fifty-five guns ; the British 
had six vessels carrying sixty-three guns. The nimiber 
of men was about five hundred in each fleet. Owing to 
the direction of tbe wind at the commencement of the 
battle. Perry's flag ship, tbe Lawrence, was exposed to tbe 
concentrated fire of the enemy's entire fleet, and in a short 
time she was made a complete wreck. As tbe wind in- 
creased, the remaining ships were enabled to come uji. 
Leaping into a boat, and in tbe midst of flying balls, 
Perry now transferred bis flag, which bore the motto 
" Don't give up tbe ship," to the next largest vessel, the 
Niagara. When passing through the enemy's line he 



Sept. 
10. 



BATTLE OF THE THAMES — DEATH OF TECUMSEH. 603 

poured in broadsides, right and left, within pistol-shot. The ^^j^^^- 

other American vessels closed, and in less than an hour 

every British ship had surrendered. The hero announced 1813. 
the result to General Harrison, in the memorable despatch, 
" We have met the enemy and they are ours." 

Harrison hastened to profit by the victory, and to lead 
his men against Detroit and Maiden. The fleet carried a 
portion of the troops across the lake, but they found 
Maiden deserted. Proctor and Tecumseh had destroyed 
their military stores, and taken with them the horses and 
cattle in the neighborhood, and were no.w in full retreat 
toward the Moravian town, on the Thames. At Detroit 
Harrison was unexpectedly reinforced by about thirty-five 
hundred mounted Kentuckians, under the venerable Gov- 
ernor Shelby, one of the heroes of King's Mountain, and 
Colonel Eichard M. Johnson. The pursuit now com- 
menced in earnest. After a forced march of sixty miles, 
they overtook the enemy. A desperate encounter took 
place ; nearly all Proctor's men were either taken or slain, Oct., 
he himself barely escaping with about two hundred dra- 
goons. The Indians fought furiously when cheered on by 
Tecumseh, but when he fell, it is said by a pistol ball 
fired by Colonel Johnson himself, they broke and fled. 
With the life of the great savage planner ended Indian 
hostilities in that part of the frontier. The Kentuckians 
returned home in triumph. Leaving Colonel Lewis Cass, 
who was soon after appointed Governor of Michigan, to 
garrison Detroit with his brigade, Harrison embarked with 
thirteen hundred regulars for Buffalo, to assist in the 
cherished project of conquering Canada. 

Military enthusiasm was not confined to Kentucky 
and the region north of the Ohio. In answer to a call to 
defend New Orleans, volunteers in great numbers assembled 
at Nashville, Tennessee. General Andrew Jackson was 
their chosen commander. 



0. 



604 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAK PEOPLE. 

'^^Af; Jackson was a native of North Carolina of Scotch- 

Irish descent ; left fatherless at an early age : — his mother 

1813 the descendant of a Scotch Covenanter, a woman of 
great energy, and of a daring spirit, but softened and sub- 
dued by religious principle and humane sympathy. From 
her he inherited a hatred of oppression, and an indomi- 
table will that never failed to triumph. At the age of 
thirteen — in Kevolutionary times — he began his career un- 
der General Sumter at the skirmish of Hanging Rock. 
I7S0. His eldest brother had already fallen in battle, and here, in 
company with the brother next in age, he fought vahantly. 
Their home broken up and pillaged, the mother and her 
two sons became exiles from their own fireside. Soon 
after the sons, through the plottings of Tories, were made 
prisoners. The next day a British officer ordered Andrew 
to clean his boots, but the young hero indignantly refused 
to perform the menial service, and steadily persisted, 
though liis life was threatened and the officer struck him 
with the flat of his sword. 

The heroic mother at length obtained the exchange of 
her sons, but only in a short time to follow to the grave 
the elder, who died of small-pox, which both the brothers 
had contracted during their captivity. 

The next year the mother, with some other ladies, 
travelled more than one hundred miles to minister to the 
wants of the unfortunate patriots, her neighbors, who were 
confined as prisoners on board of loathsome prison ships 
in the harbor of Charleston. Enfeebled by her labors of 
love, she contracted the fever then raging among the 
prisoners and speedily passed away. Thus at the age of 
fifteen Jackson was left without a relative in his native 
land. Scarcely has it ever fallen to the lot of a youth to 
experience a series of such harrowing misfortunes. Though 
young in years these trials had their efl'ect ; they gave him 
the maturity of manhood ; they strengthened the decision 
of character, which so marked his life. To his tViends 



Jackson's expedition to natchez. 605 

generous to a fault, yet he never suffered his will to be ^f^^- 

successfully resisted ; not from stubbornness — that strong- 

hold of little minds — but from his impression of right. 1796. 

He early emigrated to Tennessee, then a territory, and 
was the first representative from that State in the House. 
He was then described by a contemporary, " as having 
been a tall, lank, uncouth-looking personage, with long 
locks of hair hanging over his face, and a cue down his 
back tied in an eel-skin ; his dress singular, his manners 
and deportment that of a rough backwoodsman. No eye 
among his associates was prophetic enough, under that 
rude aspect, to recognize or imagine the future General 
and President.' 

New Orleans was almost defenceless ; the same mis- 181R. 
taken economy we have seen elsewhere, had been exercised 
here. There were only sixteen hundred men in the gar- 
rison, scarcely any ammunition, and no means of con- 
veyance. Though without authority from the War De- 
partment, General Wilkinson — the same who in the days 
of the Kevolution was one of the aids of General Gates, — 
had taken measures to survey all the water passages to 
the Gulf, and partially repair their fortifications. 

This expedition from Tennessee had a singular termi- 
nation. The infantry, in number sixteen hundred, floated 
in fiat-boats down the Cumberland, the Ohio and the 
Mississippi to Natchez, where they were joined by four 
hundred horsemen, who had marched across the country. 
Armstrong, the Secretary of War, sent orders to Jackson, Feb 
who had been refused a commission in the regular army, 
to disband his men at Natchez, and deliver his military 
stores to General Wilkinson. To implicitly obey orders 
which he did not approve was not one of the virtues of 
Andrew Jackson. Suspecting that this order was a pre- 
text to get rid of the volunteers without paying their 

' Hildreth, vol. iv., p. 692. 



006 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, wages, he positively refused to obey. Indignant at the 

, wrong done the men, he unceremoniously drove out of the 

1813. camp the United States recruiting officers, who had come, 
hoping to induce those volunteers to enlist in the regular 
army, who had not the funds to return home. On his own 
responsibility, Jackson provided conveyances for the sick, 
and marched the whole force back to Nashville, and there 
.\pril disbanded them. The War Department overlooked the in- 
subordination, and quietly paid the bill. 

The military operations on the northern frontier con- 
tinued as unimportant, as they were inefficient in bringing 
Great Britain to terms. To secure the control of Lake 
Ontario it was necessary to destroy or capture the ships 
and military stores at York, now Toronto, then the capi- 
A.pril. tal of Upper Canada, and the head-quarters of General 
Sheafe. When the spring ojDcned, Commodore Chaunc 'y 
sailed with sixteen hundred men on board his fleet. They 
landed a short distance from the town. Lieutenant Scott, 
who had recently been exchanged, leading the van. General 
Pike led the troops to the assault. The retreating British 
fired a magazine, which exploded with tremendous power, 
overwhelmed the advancing Americans, and killed and 
wounded more than two hundred of their number, among 
whom was the gallant Pike, who died the next day. The 
town surrendered, and the contents of another magazine 
were transferred to Sackett's Harbor. 

Just before the Americans embarked, a little one 
story building, known as the Parliament House, was 
burned. The British attributed the act to them, but 
General Dearborn and his officers believed it was set on 
fire by the disaffected Canadians, as they had threatened 
to burn it. 

Major Grafton certified that no American coidd have 
committed the deed without his knowledge, as he had the 
command of the patrol in the vicinity of the House. The 



PRIVATE EESENTMENTS ANOTHER FAILURE. 607 

Canadian Chief Justice of the district, in a conixTiunication, ™;y.- 

spoke of the humane conduct of the Americans, " which 

entitled them to the gratitude of the people of York." 1S13. 
Yet retaliation, for the burning of this building, was the 
excuse offered afterward for the wanton destruction and 
pillaging of the public buildings at Washington. 

During the summer occurred a number of failures, all 
traceable to the inefficiency of the commanders. Finally 
certain members of Congress informally requested the 
President, through secretary Monroe, to recall Dearborn 
from the command. Accordingly Wilkinson was trans- 
ferred from New Orleans to the northern frontier. General 
Wade Hampton, recently in command at Norfolk, was also 
appointed to the command of a division ; but as he and 
Wilkinson were not on friendly terms, he accepted the 
office only on condition that he should not be placed 
under the command of the latter. That patriotism which 
would overlook private resentment for the good of the 
country must be sacrificed to the personal enmities of these 
gentlemen. Hoping to remove the difficulty, Armstrong, 
the Secretary of War, suddenly appeared on the ground, 
and assumed the chief command himself ; but he and 
Wilkinson could not agree on a plan of operations. After May 
refusing to accept the proffered resignation of Wilkinson, 
who did not relish the uncalled-for interference, the Secre- 
tary returned to his more appropri&,te duties at Washington.. 

Another futile attempt was made to conquer Canada. 
General Wilkinson moved his army from Sackett's Har- 
bor, toward Montreal ; in the mean time General Hamp- 
ton was advancing up from Lake Chamjilaiu. The two 
American armies if united would number twelve thousand 
men, while the whole British force was about two thou- 
sand, and these mostly militia. Wilkinson wrote to 
Hampton, in Armstrong's name, to join him at St. Regis, 
but instead of co-operating, Hampton replied that he had 
giv^en up the expedition and was already on his return to 



f)08 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^HAP- winter-quarters. Under these circumstances, Wilkinson 
found it necessary to retreat, as the season would be too 

1813. far advanced before- he could obtain the provisions and 

"°^' aid which Hampton had failed to supply. During the 
previous summer there had been on the lake, as well as on 
its shores, several expeditions as unimportant in them- 
selves as they were trifling in their results. 

When General Harrison, who soon after resigned his 
commission, retired, he left a General McClure in com- 
mand at the head of Lake Ontario. Presently McClure 
found himself with only a few regular troops, as the militia 
under his command were returning home ; their term of 
enlistments had expired. Not prepared to resist the ad- 
vancing British, he was forced to retire across the river to 
the American side. Before leaving he destroyed Fort 
George, and set on fire the village of Newark, lest the 
enemy, as he said, should find comfortable winter-quarters. 
McClure gave as his excuse for thus burning the homes, 
and turning four hundred inoffensive people, men, women, 
and childfen, out into the winter's storms, that he thought 
he was justified by the orders of the War Department 
In truth there was no excuse for the cruel and wanton 

Pec. act. Evil begets evil. Ten days after, the enemy passed 
^*^' over to the American side, surprised Fort Niagara, and 
put the garrison to the sword. Then commenced the 
retaliation for the burning of Newark. They burned 
Lewistown, Youngstown, Manchester, Black Eock, and 
Buffalo, and indeed every house that could be reached 
from Lake Ontario to Erie. Prevost issued immediately 
after a proclamation, in which he stated that these rav- 
ages were provoked by the burning of Newark, and if the 
Americans would hereafter refrain from such outrages, he 
should conduct the war on humane and civilized principles. 
During the summer the whole American coast was 

June, blockaded by the overwhelming force of the British fleet. 
The Hornet, the frigates United States and Macedonian, 



BRITISH ARMED VESSELS IN THE CHESAl'EAKE. 609 

were shut \i\) in the harbor of New London. The harbor ^'^'^^■ 

of New York, the Delaware 'and Chesaijeabe bays, the 

harbors of Charleston and Savannah, the mouth of the 1813. 
Mississippi, were all blockaded. In the Chesapeake alone 
there were more than twenty British armed vessels, on 
board of which were three or four thousand land troops. 
These frequently landed and pillaged the towns, and in 
some instances committed outrages upon the inhabitants, 
especially at Hampton, a small village on James river. 
The infamy of conducting these marauding expeditions 
belongs to Vice-Admiral Cockburn, whose conduct was 
more in accordance with the bi'utality of a savage, than 
with the humanity of an officer of a Christian nation. 
These marauders were well characterized by the term, 
" Water Winnebagoes." 

The war was not confined to the northern frontier. 
The untiring Tecumseh had visited the Creeks the pre- 
vious year, and inspired them, especially their young war- 
riors, with his views. The Creeks occupied the greater 
portion of what is now the State of Alabama, and a por- 
tion of south-western Georgia. Numbers of the tribe had 
become partially civilized, living upon the products of 
their fields and their herds. The nation was divided in 
opinion. The intelligent and wealthy portion were in 
favor of peace, while the ignorant and poor were in favor 
of war. The one party saw in a war with the United 
States, the utter ruin of their nation ; the other a return 
to their ancient customs, and a perfect independence of 
the white man. The settlers blindly neglected the re- 
peated warnings given of these hostile intentions. When 
suddenly Wetherford, a celebrated half-breed chief, sur- 
rounded Fort Mimms, on the lower Alabama, and put to 
death nearly three hundred persons, men, women, and 
children. The South was speedily roused, and soon about 
seven thousand volunteers were on their march in four 
39 



610 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAK PEOPLE. 

XLm' <ii'^^s'o"S) t^ penetrate the enemy's countiy, from as many 
points, and to meet in the centre. 

1813. General Jackson, with his recent Natchez volunteers. 
'''~' moved from Nashville ; from East Tennessee, another 

division, under General Cocke ; one from Georgia, and 

1814. one from the Mississippi Territory. In addition the 
lower Creeks took up arms against their brethren ; and 
also Cherokees and Choctaws joined in the expedition. A 
series of attacks commenced upon the savage enemy. 
The Creeks were defeated in every conflict ; cut down 
without mercy, their warriors disdaining to ask for their 
lives. The divisions penetrated the country from different 
points, and drove them from place to place. In this last 
struggle for their homes they were overwhelmed, hut not 
conquered. Thus the war continued for some months, 
when the greater portion of the volunteers returned home. 
Jackson was compelled to suspend oifensive operations 
till reinforcements should arrive. At length they came, 
and he went in piu-suit of the enemy. On a peninsula 
formed by a peculiar bend in the Tallajjoosa river, known as 
Emuchfau, or the Horse-shoe, the Indians made their last 
stand. They fortified the neck of the peninsula, as much 
as their rude materials would permit. Thither they trans- 
ferred their wives and children, in whose defence they 
resolved to die, and there in gloomy silence they awaited 
the attack. 

jjgj. The assault was made on the breastwork, which, after 

28. five hours' fighting, was cai'ried. Nearly six hundred of 
the warriors perished, and the women and children were 
taken prisoners. Thus, after a campaign of six months, 
the power of the Creeks was broken, and with it 
their spirit was crushed. The warriors who were yet 
living, began to give themselves up to the conquerors. A 
noble-looking chief suddenly, at the hour of midnight, pre- 
sented himself to Jackson. " I fought at Fort Mimms ; 
I fought the army of Georgia," said he ; " I did you all 



THE CRUISE OF THE ESSEX. 611 

the harm I could. Had I been supported as I was prom- ^.•^^^■ 

ised, I would have done more. But my warriors are kill- 

ed, and I can fight no longer ; I look back with sorrow 1814 
that I have brought ruin upon my nation. I am now in 
your power, do with me as you please ; I too ain a war- 
rior." Such were the words of Wetherford, the destroyer 
of Fort Mimms. Jackson could appreciate the man who 
would fight for his country ; though the volunteers mur- 
mured, he spared the life of the chief. The General, so 
stern in the performance of duty, was not devoid of 
hiimane sympathy. When walking on the field of battle 
his attention was arrested by the wail of an Indian babe. 
He himself was a childless man, yet his heart was touched. 
Ordering the infant to be brought to the camp, he asked 
the Indian women to take care of it. " Its mother is 
dead, let it die too," was their reply. The General took 
the child himself, carried it to his home, and reared it in 
his own family. 

The Essex, Captain Porter, passed round Cape Horn, isia. 
expecting to meet the Constitution in the Pacific ; but she, 
as has already been noted, returned home after the capture 
of the Java. When he arrived at Valparaiso, Porter was 
gratified to be received as a friend. Chili had thrown off 
her allegiance to Spain, and was no longer an ally of 
England. Learning there that the viceroy of Peru had, 
in expectation of war between Spain and the United 
States, authorized cruisers against American whalers, he 
put to sea in order to chastise these cruisers, one of whom 
he captured and disarmed. He then went in pursuit of 
the British whalers, who were all armed, and carried com- 
missions from their own government to capture American 
whaling vessels. In a few months he captured twelve of 
these whalers. Hearing that the British frigate Phoebe 
had been sent in pursuit of him, he returned early in the 
year to Valparaiso, in search of the enemy. Soon the 



1814. 



612 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

CHAP. Phoebe appeared, accompanied by the sloop-of-war Cherub. 
Ib guns and men the Phoebe was a full match for the Essex. 
The two hostile vessels took their position off the harbor. 
Porter determined to avoid the unequal contest by escaping 
to sea ; but when passing out of the harbor a sudden 
squall carried away his main-topmast, and, as lie could not 
return to port, he was at the mercy of the Phoebe and 
Cherub. After an encounter, perhaps the most desperate 
of any naval engagement during the war, he was forced to 
surrender; but he did not strike his flag until he had lost 
the unusual number of fifty-eight "killed and sixty-six 
wounded. In giving an account of the affair to the Secre- 
tary of the Navy, he wrote : "We have been unfortunate, 
but not disgraced." 

Efforts had been made by local societies, small and lim- 
ited in their influence, to circulate the Bible, but not until 
the formation of a large association, with more means and 
greater facilities,^ could much be accomplished .in publishing 
and distributing the Scriptures. Sixty delegates, men of 
Mav 8 influence and representing thirty-five of these local associa- 
tions, met in New York City and formed the American 
Bible Society. During the first year eighty-four local 
societies became auxiliary to it ; now the auxiliaries, direct- 
ly or indirectly connected with the Institution, number 
about seven thousand. During the first year of its exist- 
ence the membei's of the British Bible Society sent it their 
congratulations and a donation of twenty-five hundred dol- 
lars. The Society publishes the Bible without note or 
comment, and has the confidence of all the Protestant 
denominations. It publishes more than one hundred varie- 
ties of the English Bible, and more than one hundred and 
twenty varieties in other languages. Three several times 
(1829, 1856, and 1866) the Society, as far as possible, has 
supplied every family in the Union destitute of the Bible 
with a copy. 



1876. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION-CONTINUED. 

The Thirteenth Congress; its Members. — Daniel Webster. — Manifesto of 
the British Government. — Embarrassments. — Commissioners of Peace 
appointed. — Britain oifers to negotiate. — Jacob Brown. — Winfield 
Scott. — E. W. Ripley. — Will<inson unsuccessful ; his Misfortunes. — 
Capture of Fort Erie. — Battle of Lundy's Lane. — Its eft'ect.— British 
repulsed at Fort Erie ; their Batteries captured. — Battle on Lake 
Chaniplain. — British marauding Expeditions on the Shores of the 
Cbusapeal<e. — Bludensburg. — Capture of Washington. — The Public 
Buildings burned. — Defence of Fort McHenry. — Death of General 
Ross. — Bombardment of Stonington. — Distress in New England. — De- 
bates in Congress. — Embargo and Non-importation Act repealed, — 
Hartford Convention. 

TuE thirteenth Congress, in obedience to the call of ^?fy- 

the President, met in special session, some months before 

the usual time. The last census had increased the num- 1813 
ber of Rejiresentatives in the House to 182. Of the .2^'' 
present members a greater proportion than in the last 
Congress were opposed to the war, and, indeed, its own 
advocates on that subject were by no means harmonious 
among themselves. 

In this Congress, as well as in the last, appeared many 
new men, whose influence was afterward greatly felt, not 
only in their respective States, but in moulding the future 
policy of the nation itself Among these were John Forsyth 
of Georgia, William Gaston of North Carolina, John 
McLean of Ohio, and Daniel Webster of New Hamp- 
shire, who now commenced that career so marked in our 



614 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, national councils. Born on the frontiers of that State, his 

. privileges were limited. The quiet, thoughtful hoj', fond 

1813. of books, read all within his reach. His father, a man of 
strong sense and sterling integrity ; his mother, a woman 
of more than ordinary intellect and force of character ; to 
their judicious guidance may be traced the best elements 
of his education. The father noticed his expanding in- 
tellect, the calm power of mind that intuitively grasped 
thoughts far beyond his years. His resolution was taken ; 
though very limited in means, he must educate his son. 
At length he informed Daniel of his determination to 
senl him to college. At this first intimation that the 
dreams which had. been floating before his imagination 
were to be realized, the boy's emotions were too deep for 
utterance ; he threw himself upon his father's neck and 
wept for joy. 

In Congress stirring debates ensued. Not only was 
the policy of the war severely criticized, but the manner in 
wliich it had been conducted. Its advocates were sur- 
rounded with difficulties ; the means to carry it on weie 
exhausted ; the revenue derived from commerce had 
dwindled to one million, with a prospect of still greater 
reduction ; enormous bounties were offered to obtain re- 
cruits for the army, but very few enlisted. The clashing 
of opinions on the subject had arrayed the people definitely 
on one side or the other. 
Jan. The British government issued to the world a mani- 

festo, in which certain charges industriously circulated in 
the United States were utterly denied — such as that 
they had instigated the Indians to hostilities, or that 
they had endeavored to seduce the people of the Eastern 
States from the Union ; but on the contrary, they protested 
that the English people were actuated by a spirit of for- 
bearance, and were truly desirous to be at peace and 
amity with the jieople of the United States. As to the 
question of search, they were unwilling to give up tho 



THE WAR UNPOPULAR IN NEW ENGLAND. 615 

right to recover their deserting seamen, unless the United S?^'- 

States would remove the necessity for impressments, by 

enacting laws forbidding British sailors to enlist in the 1813. 
American service. This document had a great effect in 
influencing the minds of the people in England, as well 
as upon those in the United States. 

The disasters of the last campaign, and the want of 
money, a sufficiency of which could not be obtained by 
loans, were not as embarrassing to the government, as the 
opposition to the war which prevailed in the New Eng- 
land States. The Legislature of Massachusetts sent a 
remonstrance to Congress. They denounced the war as 
unreasonable, for Great Britain had repealed the obnoxious 
Orders in Council, and also offered to negotiate in relation 
to impressments. Undue influences in the councils of the 
nation had led to measures opposed to their interests, and 
had brought ruin upon them by war. It was a duty to 
their constituents to make this remonstrance. They ap- 
pealed to the Searcher of hearts for the purity of theii' 
motives, and their devotion to their country. 

The people of New England complained that for the 
last twelve years, their influence in the national govern- 
ment had not been in proportion to their pojiulation, in- 
telligence and wealth, — that their best and ablest men 
had been designedly excluded from positions of influence 
in the councils of the nation. 

In less than a year after the declaration of war, Presi- -^^j. 
dent Madison, influenced by an offer of mediation on the 
part of Russia, appointed Albert Gallatin, his Secretary of 
the Treasury, and James A. Bayard, commissioners to nego- 
tiate a peace. They were to act in concert with John 
Quincy Adams, then minister at the court of St. Peters- 
burg. The offered mediation by Russia was declined by 
England ; and nothing was accomplished by the com- 
missioners. Nearly a year afterward, the British govern- 
ment made a direct overture to treat of peace, either at 



Jan 
14. 



616 HISTOET OB XHE AMEEICAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP. London or at Gottenburo; in Sweden. This offer was 

XLIV 

[ made in the face of the ultimate downfall of Bonaparte, 

18U. who had just been defeated at the battle of Leipsic. The 
President gladly acceiited the offer, though he complained 
that the English government had rejected the mediation 
of Russia, which had been offered three several times. 
Accordingly, Henry Clay and Jonathan Kussell, recently 
minister to England, were appointed additional comisis- 
sioners of peace. In a month's time, they had received 
their instructions, and were on their way to Europe. 

These instructions took decided ground on the im- 
pressment question. " That degrading practice must cease,'' 
said they. " Our flag must protect the crew, or the United 
States cannot consider themselves an independent nation." 
Yet the promise was quietly made to enact a law for- 
bidding the enlistment of British sailors, either in the 
United States navy or in the mercantile service. StiU 
more, the commissioners were privately authorized " to go 
further, to prevent a possibility of failure." It will be re- 
membered that this was the very law or assurance in 
effect, that Britain asked of Congress, at the commence- 
ment of the war. 

Engrossed with the affairs of Europe, England as yet 
could spare but few men or ships for the American 
war. Bonaparte having abdicated and retired to Elba, 
she had on her hands a large veteran army unemployed. 
Of this army, fourteen thousand soldiers were sent to 
Canada, while other portions were sent to different places 
in the United States. This acquisition changed the face 
of affairs on the northern frontier. 

The f\iilures in that quarter, had thrown the admims- 
tration at Washington into despair. The soldiers had 
but little confidence in officers, who were continually 
quarrelling with each other, and never acting in concert, 
and this favorite measure was about to be given up, from 
sheei- want of proper persons to lead the enterprise. New 



SEW MEN ON THE STAGE. 



617 



men were coming on the stage. The most promising of ^^ 

these was Colonel Jacob Brown, a Pennsylvanian by birth, . 

a Quaker bj' descent, who, when a school teacher in the 1S]4. 
city of New York, attracted the attention of Hamilton, 
who made him his military secretaiy in the army of 1798. 
Brown subsequently removed to the northern part of Xew 
York State, and there, in his defence of Ogdensburg, as 
well as on other occasions, exhibited mihtary talents of a 
high order. There was another youthful hero, destined to 
fiU an honorable space in the military annals of his country. 
Winfield Scott, a native of Virginia, originally bred for 
the bar ; he also belonged to the army of '98. At the 
commencement of the war he raised and commanded a 
company of volunteers. To these may be added Eleazar 
W. Ripley, of Maine, who possessed talents of a high order. 

These young and enthusiastic officers believed that if 
the Americans were drilled, and led by commanders in 
whom they had confidence, they would meet the British 
regulars without fear for the result. Owing to their 
solicitations, another invasion of Canada was planned. 
Nothing, however, was gained by the eifort, except tli*^ 
verification of their theory. 

Early in the spring, Wilkinson, who had been ill for 
months, moved with four thousand men, from winter 
quarters, to repel a British detachment. His progress was 
arrested near La CoUe, at a stone mill, held as an outpost. 
The single heavy cannon brought to batter down the miU, 
sunk in the mire. An unusual thaw commencing, flooded 
the whole coimtry, and opened Lake Champlain, of which 
the British had control. The Americans were fain to re- 
tire from the danger as soon as possible. Wilkinson was 
so much abused and ridiculed on account of this failure, 
that he indignantly resigned, and demanded an inquirj' 
Into his conduct by a court-martial. 

One year from that time, he was honorably acquitted 
by the court. But the government, which he had faith- 



618 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP fully served for forty years, on the reduction of the army 

after the war, dismissed him from its service. Thus in 

1814. his old age he experienced the hardship of being turned 
upon the world without a competency. The State of 
Maryland came forward, and generously granted him a 
pension. 

When spring further opened, a concentration of forces 
on both sides resulted in a series of movements and counter- 
movements accomplishing nothing of imiwrtance. The 
first point resolved upon, was to seize Burlington Heights, 
at the head of Lake Ontario, before aid could come" from 
York. In the mean time, Commodore Chauncey was to get 
the command of the lake. 

Having obtained permission from the government, 
General Brown, witli thirty-five hundred men, some reg- 
ulars and some volunteers, passed in the night from 
Buffalo to Canada, presented himself in the morning be- 
fore Fort Erie, and summoned the garrison to surrender. 
In tlio course of the day, the fort complied. 

The British General Riall, with an army cfiual in 
number to that of Brown, was stationed behind the Chip- 
pewa, distant fifteen miles. Colonel Scott, the next day, 
led the advance against the enemy, whose outjiosts he 
drove in ; the remainder of the army came up at midnight. 
Brown here gave an indication of what he expected of his 
officers ; he cashiered one of their number for untimely re- 
treating in a skirmish. On the following day, Riall left 
his intrenchments and crossed the .Chippewa. The volun- 
teers could not resist the attack, but fled, leaving Scott's 
brigade exposed. The latter charged the advancing enemy 
with the bayonet, and forced them to retreat ; as they 
passed the bridge they destroyed it. Eiall immediately 
abandoned his camp and Queenstown, and leaving a strong 
force in Fort George, retreated to a fixvorable position 
twelve miles distant. The British loss in these engagements 
was about five hundred, the American about three hundred 



July 



THE BATTLE OF LUSDY'S LA>E. 619 

This first victory, after a fair trial of strength, was rerr ^^■ 

gratit\-ing to the Americans, privates as well as officersw 

Brown took possession of Queenstown, but found he had 1S14- 
not the proper cannon to successfully attack Fort George, 
and that the fleet could not co-operate. After maintain- July 
ing his position three weeks, he fell back to the Chippewa. -"*' 

The British were not idle. On the very day that 
Brown reached the CWppewa, General Dnimmond ar- 
rived from York at Fort George, with large reinforce- 
ments. To prevent them trom sending a detachment to 
destroy his stores at Schlc>sser, Bn.)wn made an advance 
upon the enemy. Scott led his brigade, accompanied by 
the artillery commande*.! by Towson. General Kiall was 
advancing in force in an opjvsite direction, intendiug on 
the following morning to attack the Americans. AKiat 
sunset, when directly opjvisite the falls of Niagara, these 
parties unexpectedly met. The British took position on 
s rising ground, and there placed their artillery, consisting 
of seven pieces. These began to play upon Scott's bri- 
gade, while, because of their position on the hill, balls 
frvmi Towson's guns could scarcely reach them. The loss 
of the Americans was great, yet they maintained their 
position, exjiecting Brv^wn with the main army. When it 
wasquite dark, he arrivev^l. One of Scott's regiments under 
Major Jessup daive the Canadian militia before them, and, 
gaining the rear of the enemy, captureil a number of 
prisoners, among whom was General Riall himselt'. who 
having been wouude«.l, was retiring. It was seen that the 
key of the position was the park of artillery on the hilL 
Said Ripley to Colonel James Miller : '" Can you take that 
battery ? " " I'll try, sir," was the prompt reply. Then 
silently leading his regiment, which was partially concealed 
by the fence of a churchyarvl. along which they passed. 
Miller rushe*.! ujion the artillerists, and dane them from 
their guns at the point of the bayonet. Presently General 
Drnmmond advanceil in the darkness to recover the 



620 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

XLiv" S'™^ > ^"^ '^^ ™^^ quailed before the terrible fire which 

they encountered. He rallied tbem again ; and again 

1814. they were forced from the hill. With the energy of des- 
peration, for the third time they advanced, and were 
again met with a resistance equally obstinate, — the op- 
posing forces fighting hand to hand with the bayonet. It 
j^^j was now midnight. The British sullenly retired. The 
25. Americans had maintained their ground, supplying their 
own exhausted ammunition from the cartridge-boxes of 
their slain foes. The men were almost perishing with 
hunger, thirst and fatigue. They had marched during the 
day fifteen miles, and contended with the enemy five 
hours. Exhausted, they sank upon the ground. The 
silence was broken only by the groans of the wounded and 
dying, and the roar of the mighty cataract, whose moan- 
ing tones was a fit requiem for the dead on that field of 
blood. 

The Americans at length retired to their camp, not 
having horses or any means to carry ofi" the guns which 
they had captured. The scouts of the enemy soon dis- 
covered that they had retired, and a strong detachment 
was sent to reoccupy the hill and recover their artillery. 

Such was the midnight battle of Bridgewater, or Lundy's 
Lane. The. Americans lost nearly seven hundred and 
fifty men — and the British nearly nine hundred ; an un- 
precedented loss, when compared with tlie number en- 
gaged. Brown and Scott were both wounded ; as well as 
nearly all the regimental officers. The next morning there 
were but sixteen hundred effective men in the American 
■ camp. It was now seen that the Americans, when prop- 
erly led, could and would fight. They had met the vete- 
rans who fought under WelKngton in Spain, and repulsed 
them in three desperate encounters. This battle stood out 
in bold relief, when compared with the imbecility hithert(^r 
BO characteristic of the campaigns on the northern fron- 



BRITISH KEPULSED- -BATTLE ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 62J 

tier. It acquired a national interest, as important in its ^Hj^i' 

effect as the first naval victories. 

The American army fell back to Fort Erie, the com- 1814 
maud of which Brown intrasted to Colonel Edmund P. 
Gaines. In the course of a fortnight, Drummond ad- 
vanced with four thousand men, and after bombarding 
the fort, attempted at midnight to carry it by assault. 
The British, in the face of a destructive fire, charged 

again and again, even within a few feet of the intrench- Aug. 

. .15 

ments. They were finally forced to retire, after sustain- 
ing a loss of nearly a thousand men — the Americans not j 
losing a hundred. In a few weeks the energetic Brown, 
now partially recovered from his wounds, assumed the 
command. He determined to make a dash at the enemy's 
batteries, which were two miles in advance of their camp. 
The time, mid-day, was well chosen. Kushing out from Sept. 
the fort, before assistance could come from the British 
camp, he stormed the batteries, fired the magazines, 
spiked the guns, captured four hundred prisoners, and re- 
turned to the fort, leaving six hundred of the enemy 
killed and wounded. But this brilliant exploit cost him 
nearly three hundred men. Drummond immediately 
raised the siege and retreated beyond the Chippewa. 

Stirring events occurred on another part of the frontier. 
The little navy on Lake Chami^lain emulated the deeds 
of the one on Lake Erie just a year before. General 
Prevost, himself, marched from Canada with twelve 
thousand veteran troops to invade the State of New York 
— the town of Plattsburg was the special object of attack. 
There on the south bank of the Saranac, General Macomb 
was intrenched with an army of three thousand men, 
many of whom were invalids. The main body of the 
American forces was under General Izard, at Sackett's 
Harbor. Macomb called upon the militia of Vermont and ®?,P*" 
New York for aid ; three thousand of whom nobly re- 
sponded, as did their fathers thirty-seven years before, 



622 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, when Burgoyne was moving in the same direction, and for 

the same purpose. Commodore Macdonough, after lahor- 

1814. ing incessantly, had at last equipped a fleet. It consisted 
of a ship, the Saratoga, of twenty-six guns, a brig ol 
twenty guns, an armed schooner, and a sloop, besides 
some gun-boats, in all eighty-six guns and eight hundred 
and fifty-six men. The British soon appeared, and be- 
gan to prepare batteries in order to assault Macomb's 
position. It was useless to force the Saranac, unless 'the 
command of the lake was secured. Cajrtain Downie had 
a fleet of one ship of thirty-seven guns, a brig of twenty- 
four, two sloops each of eleven, and a number of gun- 
boats, in all ninety-five guns and one thousand men. 
Macdonough moored his fleet across the entrance of Platts- 
burg Bay. A strange scene was witnessed on board the 
Saratoga. As the British fleet drew near, Macdonough 
knelt in jirayer in the presence of his men, and implored the 
blessing of Heaven upon his country, and especially upon 
those about to engage with him in the coming conflict. 

Downie stood directly into the harbor, reserving iiis 
fire for a close action, but his largest vessel became so 
disabled that he was obliged to cast anchor a quarter of a 
Sept. j^Qg from the American line. During this time one of 
his sloops was so cut up as to become unmanageable, and 
drifting within reach, was secured, while the other sloop 
for a similar cause drifted ashore. All the guns on one 
side of Macdonough's largest ship were disabled, but he 
managed to wind her round, and presented a whole side 
and guns to her antagonist. Downie attempted the same 
manoeuvre, but failing he struck his flag ; the entire fleet 
was captured with the exception of a few gun-boats. 

When the battle began on the lake, Prevost advanced 
to storm Macomb's position ; he delayed the main attack 
till a detachment could cross the river above, but before 
that was accomplished, the fleet had surrendered. The 
following night, in the midst of a raging storm, the enemy. 



THE BRITISH FLEET IN THE CHESAPEAKE. 623 

Stricken with a sudden panic, commenced their retreat, ^'^^P- 

abandoned their sick and wounded, and the greater part of 

their stores. Thus again the navy of the hike had given 1814. 
a decisive blow. 

Their great number of vessels enabled the British still 
to blockade the ports of the United States, and effectually 
prevent their ships of war from getting to sea. The Wasp 
was their only one afloat. She was known to have lately 
cajjtured the British sloop-of-war Avon, and subsequently 
three other prizes. All trace of her was now lost ; she 
had gone down, carrying with her the only American flag 
which waved on the ocean from a national vessel. Chesa- 
peake Bay became the favorite rendezvous for the British 
fleet ; its shores affording great facilities for marauding- 
expeditions As a defence, the gun-boats were of no .ser- 
vice, except to make a bold front till the enemy came 
near, and then to run up the creeks, out of harm's way. 

In the waters of the Chesapeake and its tributaries, 
there were now sixty ships of war under the command of 
Admirals Cockburn and Cochrane. On board this fleet 
was a land force of five thousand troops, under General 
Eobert Koss. The greatest alarm prevailed in that region 
in consequence of a proclamation, signed by Cochrane, 
which promised to persons desirous of emigrating from the 
United States, employment in the British army and navy, 
or transportation as '''.free settlers " to the West India 
Islands, or to Canada. Still more alarming was the Jnlj 
rumor, based on the proposition of some British officers, 
that the enemy were about to seize the peninsula between 
the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, and there form and 
drill an army of runaway slaves. 

General Winder, who was appointed to the command 
in the emergency, was authorized to call out fifteen thou- 
sand militia from the neighboring States. This he pro- 
posed to do some weeks before the enemy appeared, and 



0. 



624 HISTOET OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

xtfy' *° P^^'^^ them in a central position, tliat they might be 

able to march to the defence of either Washington, Balti- 

1814. more, or Annapolis, as the case might require. This ju- 
dicious plan was not adopted. Armstrong, the Secretary 
of War, opposed it on the ground that with an empty 
treasury it would be unjustifiable to incur the expense ; 
and, moreover, he was of the opinion that Washington 
would not be attacked by an enemy who were without 
horses or cannon, and that Baltimore could defend itself 
President Madison seems to have been at a loss what to 
do or advise. In the midst of these discussions the enemy 
appeared, one portion of their fleet coming up the bay, 
and another iip the Potomac. 

At this late hour word was sent, not by express, but 
by the tardy mail, to the authorities of Pennsylvania and 
Virginia, asking them to forward their requisition of 
militia. It was now impossible for them to reach the 
scene of action. In the mean time at Benedict, .on the 
Patuxent, about fifty miles from Washington, General 
^^- Ross landed five thousand troops, without meeting the 
least opposition from the militia of the neighborhood. 
He commenced his march toward the capital, moving 
very slowly, not more than ten miles a day, the marines, 
for want of horses, dragging their field-pieces, only three 
or four. The soldiers were enervated from the eifects of 
their voyage, and from the excessive heat of the weather. 
A few spirited troops could have easily checked them. A 
company of armed and trained negroes marched in front, 
cautiously exjDloring the country, and receiving from run- 
away slaves information of the Americans. The soul of 
the enterprise was the notorious Cockburn, who had been 
for a year engaged in pillaging that region. The planters 
were so much alarmed for their own safety, lest the slaves, 
much more numerous than their masters, should rise in 
insurrection and join the enemy, that they permitted the 
invaders to advance for four days without making the least 



BATTLE OF BLADENSBURG. 625 

opposition. They might have been delayed on their S'^^- 

march much longer, if trees had been felled at certain 

poin£s where the roads crossed swamps, or if the numerous 1814. 
bridges on the route had been broken down. 

Commodore Barney, who was in command of the 
flotilla of gun-boats, ran them up the Patuxent as far as 
possible, then set them on fire, and marched with five 
hundred marines to join the militia concentrating in the 
vicinity of Bladensburg. Here he was put in command ^"^• 
of some heavy guns brought from the navy yard. The 
President himself, accomi^anied by his cabinet, visited the 
camp, where all was in confusion. The divisions of 
militia were stationed by General Winder in such posi- 
tions as to support each other, but these had been changed 
by self-constituted officers, who accompanied the Presi- 
dent. It was ascertained that the enemy was moving 
toward Bladensburg. Rumor had magnified their num- 
ber to ten thousand ; all veterans. The discreet militia 
began to retreat, some with permission and some without. 
On learning this General Winder sent orders for them to 
make a stand at the bridge and fight. The village was 
abandoned, and on the other side of the east branch of 
the Potomac the marines and militia were arranged. 
Barney had j)laced his men in a ijosition to sweep the 
road with the guns. About the middle of the afternoon 
the enemy appeared, but so excessive had been the heat, 
that they were completely exhausted. When Ross re- 
connoitred the militia stationed on the risins^ ground, he 
was somewhat alarmed at their formidable appearance. 
But he had gone too far to retreat ; the order was given 
to move forward. His alarm was of short continuance. 
A few Oongreve rockets put the Maryland militia to flight ; 
the riflemen followed ; the artillery, after firing not more 
than twice, rapidly retreated ; then the Baltimore regi- 
ment, on which some hopes were placed, fled also, carry^ 
ing with them the President and his cabinet. The "24! 
40 



Aug 



C26' HISTOEy OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 

'xnv' -^'^i*''^^ ^^^ moved slowly on until they were checked hy 

. the guns manned by the marines under Barney. Find- 

1814. ing it impossible to force the position of the marines and 
sailors in front, detachments tiled by the right and left 
and passed up ravines. At the head of one was stationed 
the Annapolis regiment, which fled at the first fire. At 
the head of the other ravine were placed some regulars 
and militia ; they also showed their discretion by getting 
out of harm's way as soon as possible. The sailors and 
marines, thus deserted, and in danger of being surrounded, 
retired, their guns and wounded companions falling into 
the hands of the enemy. Owing to the vigorous fire oi 
the marines, the British lost a large number of men, and 
others died from fatigue and heat, and it was absolutely 
necessary to wait some hours before they could march on 
Washington. Thus ended the battle of Bladensburg, — 
in one respect the most famous in American annals. 

In the cool of the evening the British advanced into 
Washington, which they found almost entirely deserted 
by its male inhabitants. The enemy proceeded to dis- 
grace themselves by fulfilling the instructions which Ad- 
miral Cochrane had previously ofiicially announced, 
which were "to destroy and lay waste aU towns and dis- 
tricts of the United States found accessible to the attack 
of British armaments." They burned the capitol, and with 
it the Congressional Library, and the buildings used for 
the Treasury and State Departments, in revenge, as it was 
said, for the Parliament House at York. Many important 
Aug. papers were lost, but the most valuable had been removed 
^^- some days before. Mrs. Madison had left the President's 
mansion, taking with her the plate and valuables, and also a 
portrait of Washington — which was taken from the frame 
and rolled up. The mansion was pillaged and set on fire, 
as were some private dwellings, and stores were also plun- 
dered. A complete destruction followed at the na\7 
yard. 



GENERAL ROSS SLAIN DEFENCE OF FORT m'HENRY. 627 

In the midst of a hostile country, General Eoss, with ^^^• 

a handful of exhausted men, was ill at ease. Perhaps he 

had read of Concord and Lexington, and was alarmed 1814, 
lest " the indignant citizen soldiery " would turn out and 
harass him on his retreat. Early the following ntght he 
kindled the camp fires, and leaving behind him the sick 
and woimded, he commenced a stealthy retreat to his 
ships. His alarm was needless ; in a march of four days 
not the least opposition did he experience. Four days 
after the taking of the capital, the British frigates, passing 
by Fort Washington, which offered but little resistance, 
came up the Potomac and anchored opposite Alexandria, ^g^ 
which town saved itself from a bombardment by paying 
an enormous tribute. 

When his men were refreshed. General Eoss moved 
with the fleet iip the Chesapeake, toward Baltimore. The 
militia of Maryland by this time had assembled for the 
defence of the city, and also several companies of volun- 
teers had arrived from Pennsylvania. The enemy, eight 

thousand strong, landed at North Point, at the mouth of Sept 

.12 
the Patapsco. The land forces commenced their march, 

and the fleet to ascend the river, intending to capture 
Fort McHenry, situated two miles below the city. An 
advance party of Americans were thrown forward. In a 
skirmish with this party. General Ross was killed, yet the 
invaders pressed on; the militia, after a spirited encounter, 
retired in good order. The next morning the enemy ad- 
vanced, yet hesitatingly, as the neighboring hills were 
covered with soldiers, field works and artillery, which al- 
together made a formidable appearance: They were un- 
der the veteran General Samuel Smith, the same who so 
gallantly defended Fort MifiBlin in the Revolution. The 
British hesitated to commence the attack without the co- 
operation of the fleet, which was then busily engaged in 
bombarding Fort McHenry, but without much success, 
as the fort was replying with great spirit. When it was 



628 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN- PEOPLE. 



CHAP, 
XLIV. 



ascertained that t-he fleet could not pass the fort, the in- 
vaders silently retired in the night and re-embarked. 

1814. It was amid the excitement of this cannonade that 

Francis Key composed the popular song of the " Star 
Spangled Banner." He had gone to ask the release of 
certain prisoners, and had been detained during the at- 
tack on board the British fleet. 

From Eastport in Maine to Sandy Hook, the whole 
Eastern coast was liable to these marauding expeditions. 
One of the most serious of these, was the bombardment 
'of Stonington in Connecticut, which continued for four 
days, but after throwmg shells and rockets, and several 
attempts to land, the enemy retired. They were repelled 
in every instance by the sturdy militia. Field works, 
garrisoned by the yeomanry of the country, were thrown 
up at all points along the coast likely to be an object of 

Aug. attack. This was done by the State authorities, the na- 
tional government being so completely enfeebled, as to 
he unable to afford the least aid to any of the States. 

The people of New England, with very few exceptions, 
continued to complain of their grievances. Their dis- 
tress was great; the embargo, enforced by severe penalties, 
ruined their fisheries and their coasting trade, and had 
deprived them of many of the necessaries of life. They 
looked upon these restrictions as " more odious and un- 
feeling than the Boston Port Bill, which roused the colo- 
nies to independence ; a gross and palpable violation of the 
principles of the Constitution, not to be submitted to with- 
out a pusillanimous surrender of their rights and liberties." 
Petitions poured in to the legislature of Massachusetts, 
asking it to take measures to redress these grievances. A 
committee to whom these petitions were referred, reported 
Feb. in terms expressive of the general sentiment of the pe- 
titioners. They believed that the war, so fertile in failures, 
and so threatening as to its results, was uncalled foi and 



DEBATES IN CONGKjiSS — DANIEL WEBSTER. 629 

wrong in principle. They saw in the 'future the people ^Y^''- 

impoverished, deprived of their comforts, and their hopes 

blasted. And the committee recommended a convention 1814. 
of delegates from the commercial States, to obtain amend- 
ments to the constitution that would secure them against 
such evils. 

These manifestations of discontent had their effect, 
and the President himself proposed the abandonment of 
the restrictive system, not only the embargo, but the non- 
imjjortation act. In order to encourage domestic manu- Mar 
factures, instead of the latter he recommended that for 
three years after the close of the war double duties be 
imposed upon imported goods, and that the exportation 
of specie be prohibited. 

The advocates of the war in Congress, annoyed at the 
failures of the last two years, attributed their want of 
success to the influence of those opposed to the war ; in- 
stead of acknowledging their own imprudence, in thus 
rushing, without preparation, into hostilities, or ceasing to 
be infatuated with the idea of conq^uering Canada. In 
the discussion on a bill to procure enlistments for the 
army, Daniel Webster in reply to these charges, no 
doubt expressed the general sentiment of those opposed 
to the war. In those sections of the country where the 
population was most numerous, the war was unpopular 
because of its impolicy ; — it was no detraction from their 
patriotism that they did not join heart and hand in 
measures which they deemed the extreme of folly. He 
continued, — " Give up your futile projects of invasion. 
Extinguish the fires which blaze on your inland frontiers. 
Establish perfect safety and defence there by adequate 
force. Let every man that sleeps on your soil sleep in 
security. Having performed this work of beneficence and 
mercy on your inland border, turn and look with the eye 
of justice and compiassion on your vast population along 
the coast. Unclench the iron grasp of your embargo. Take 



630 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, measures for that end before another suu sets upon you 

With all the war of the enemy upon your commerce, if 

1814. you would cease to make war upon it yourselves, you 
would still have some commerce. That commerce would 
give you some revenue. Apply that revenue to the aug- 
mentation of your navy. Let it no longer be said, that 
not one ship of force, built by your hands since the war, 
yet floats upon the ocean. If the war must continue, go 
to the ocean. If you are seriously contending for mari- 
time lights, go to the theatre where alone those rights can 
be defended. Thither every indication of your fortune 
points you. There the united wishes and exertions of 
the nation will go with you. Even our party divisions, 
acrimonious as they are, cease at the water's edge. They 
are lost in attachment to the national character, on the 
element where that character is made respectable. In 
time you may be able to redress injuries in the place 
where they may be 'offered ; and, if need be, to accompany 
your own flag throughout the world with the protection 
of your own cannon." 

The embargo and non-importation act were repealed, 
while action on the other recommendations of the Presi- 
dent was postponed. 

The delegates to the convention recommended by the 
legislature of Massachusetts, met upon the appointed day 
Dwi at Hartford. In accordance with the sentiments express- 
ed in the call for the convention, the members were en- 
joined not to propose measures " repugnant to their obli- 
gations, as members of the Union." They met in a time 
of trial and distress to confer with each other on the best 
means to relieve the country of a ruinous war, and secure 
the blessings of a permanent peace. The Convention, 
consisting of but twenty-six members, sat with closed 
doors. After a session of twenty days it adjourned, and, 
as the result of their deliberations, published an addresi^ 
to the people. The address disappointed the more violent 



THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. 631 

opponents of the war, who thought the occasion demanded ^^ 
more decided measures. The President and his cabinet 



had been much alarmed ; in the Convention, they imagin- 1814. 
ed lurked some terrible plot of treason ; they breathed 
more freely when they read this address and the resolutions 

After recapitulating the evils wliich the war had 
brought upon the people whom they represented, they ex- 
pressed their sentiments upon other wrongs ; such as the 
enlistment of minors and apprentices ; the national gov- 
ernment assuming to command the State militia ; and 
especially the proposed system of conscription for both 
army and navy. " Strange propositions for a government 
professedly waging war to protect its seamen from im- 
pressment ! " " The conscription of the father with the 
seduction of the son, renders complete the power of the 
national executive over the male pojjulation of the coun- 
try, thus destroying the most important relations of 
society." 

" A free constitution administered by great and in- 
comparable statesmen realized the fondest hopes of liberty 
and independence, under Washington and his measures. 
The arts flourished, the comforts of life were universally 
diffused, nothing remained but to reap the advantages 
and cherish the resources flowing from this policy." 

" Our object is to strengthen and perpetuate the union 
of these States, by removing the causes of jealousies." 

In furtherance of these views they proposed amend- 
ments to the Constitution ; among others, to equalize the 
representation in the lower House of Congress, by basing it 
on free population ; against embargoes and non-intercourse 
laws ; to make the President ineligible for a second term. 
These amendments were never adopted by the States. 
The existence of the Convention showed the intense feel- 
ing on the subject of the war and its consequences, and 
its deliberations exhibit no other spirit than that of wish- 
ing to redress grievances by constitutional means. 



G32 HISTOBT OF THE AMEKICAST PEOPLE. 

v^fv" Hhortly after the adjournment of the Convention, the 

legislatures of Massachusetts and Connecticut, viewing 

3 814. the law of Congress which authorized the enlistment of 
minors and aj^jirentices, as a violation of their rights and 
unconstitutional, passed laws that subjected the recruiting 
officers to fine and imprisonment ; and required the State 
judges to release any such minor or apprentice on apph- 
cation of the parent or guardian. Fortunately the war 
was soon after brought to a close, and the necessity for 
enlistments under this oppressive and demoralizing law, 
was removed. 



CHAPTER XLV. 

MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION— CONCLUDED, 

Jackson enters Pcnsaeola. — New Orleans defenceless. — The British land. — 
Jackson's Measures of Defence. — Battle of New Orleans. — The Distress 
of the Country and Knibarrassmcut of the Government. — The Relief. — 
Treaty of Peace. — The Frigate President captured. — Successes at Sea. 
— War with Algiers. — Treaty with that Power. — Treaty with the In- 
dians. — Financial Disorders. — State of Indiana. — John Fitch. — Robert 
Fulton. — First Steamboat. 

When arranging affairs with the Creeks, General SJ^'V 

Jackson learned that the Spaniards at Pensacola had . 

welcomed the hostile Indians, and also that a British 1814. 
man-of-war had furnished them with arms. Intelligence 
of this was sent to Washington, whence orders were trans- 
mitted to Jackson to seize Pensacpla. That these orders 
were six months on the way, may illustrate the efficiency 
with which the War Department was conducted. Mean- 
time some British men-of-war arrived in the harbor, from 
which a Colonel Nichols landed men and began to enlist 
the Creeks. Jackson now sent urgent ajjpeals to his 
favorite Tennessee mounted men to hasten to his aid. 
The British soon after attacked Fort Bowyer on the east 
shore of Mobile Bay. The fort was defended by one 
hundred and thirty men, under Major Lawrence. The 
vigorous defence soon repulsed the enemy, one of whose 
ships blew up and the rest were fain to depart. This 
success encouraged the people of Louisiana and Missis- 
sippi in their efforts to defend New Orleans themselves, 



634 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

aiM>. without depending upon the General Government. Jack- 

son wrote repeatedly to Washington for orders and re- 

1814. ceived none, but when the three tliousand Tennesseans, 
under General Coffee, arrived, he took the responsibility 
to enter Pensacola and demand that the British should 
Nov. leave the place. He also intimated in emphatic terms to 
the Spanish governor, that he would hold him responsible 
for permitting the British to occupy his territory, for the 
purpose of encouraging the Creeks in their hostility. The 
British immediately blew up a fort which they had erected 
seven miles below the town, and took to their ships. 
8. Confident that the enemy designed to direct their 

efforts against New Orleans, Jackson sent in advance 
General Coffee to some point on the Mississippi, with the 
mounted men, while he himself followed, as soon as cir- 
cumstances would permit. The defences of New Orleans 
were in a deplorable condition ; since Wilkinson left, 
nothing further had been done to repair them. The city 
contained nearly twenty thousand inhabitants, not one- 
half of whom were whites. These were princi})ally ot 
French origin, and others of foreign birth, none of whom 
were ardently attached to the United States. Jackson 
hastened to the point of danger. He availed himself of 
every possible aid ; he released the convicts in the prisons, 
and enrolled them for the occasion ; accepted the offered 
services of Latitte, the head of the Baratarian buccaneers. 
He also issued an address to " the noble-hearted, gener- 
ous, free men of color," to enroll themselves for the de- 
fence of their country. To this call, under an act of the 
Louisiana Legislature, they heartily responded. 

While he was thus unprepared, the British fleet cast 
anchor off the entrance of Lake Borgne. It had on board 
twelve thousand land troops, besides four thousand saiLirs 
and marines. Tliese troops had recently been under tlie 
Duke of Wellington, in the Peninsular war, and were 
commanded by able and experienced generals ; Sir Ed- 



JAOKSON'S PREPAKATIONS — CONFLICTS. 635 

ward Packingliam, a brother-in-law of the Duke of Wei- 9^j^'- 

lington, Gibbs, Keene, and Lambert. Three days later, 

after a severe contest, they captured the entire American 18 u. 
flotilla on Lake Borgne. 

The Louisiana militia were immediately called out, 
but they were ill supplied with arms. Some months pre- 
vious, Jackson, anticipating this very emergency, had 
urged upon the War Department at Washington to send 
a supply of arms from the arsenal at Pittsburg. The 
government agent, unwilling to pay the usual freight on 
the only steamboat then running to New Orleans, shipped 
the arms on board keel boats. Thus twenty-five cents on 
a hundred pounds of freight were saved by the govern- 
ment, and Jackson received the muskets after the battle ! 

General Coffee had reached Baton Rouge, at which 
place he received orders to hasten with all speed to the 
scene of action. With eight hundred of his best mounted 
men — all unerring marksmen, armed with rifles and toma- 
hawks — he made the extraordinary march of one hundred 
and fifty miles in two days. Thus, by similar exertions, 
in the space of a fortnight, Jackson had five thousand 

men, four-fifths of whom were militia. Other difficulties Deo 

. . 20 

presented themselves. Owing to the want of co-operation 

on the part of the legislature, and the necessities of the 

times, he proclaimed martial law. 

The enemy landed two thousand light armed troops, 
under General Keene. Jackson marched to meet them 
with the regulars, and Coffee's men dismounted. Soon 
after dark the battle began ; the enemy were driven from 
one point to another, till finally they found protection ^®°' 
behind a levee. Good service was done in this conflict 
by the armed schooner Carolina, which ran in near the 
shore, and with her guns swept their ranks. This success- 
ful repulse of the invaders greatly encouraged the Ameri- 
cans. 

The next day Jackson took a position on solid ground 



636 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAK PEOPLE. 



<^AP. nearly a mile in breadth ; the river protecting one flank, 

and a swamp the other. Though strongly reinforced, the 

18] 0. British made no attempt the following day to retrieve 
what they had lost, being deterred by the reports of 
prisoners, who greatly exaggerated the strength of Jack- 
son's force. This delay was profitably occupied in 
strengthening the defences ; bales of cotton were used as 
a rampart, and the ditch was extended to the swamp. 
Five days after the enemy advanced and drove in the 
American outposts, and when within half a mile of the 
ramparts opened with artillery and Congreve rockets. 
Yet Jackson replied with so much vigor, with his five 
heavy guns, that after a cannonade of seven hours the 
enemy withdrew, having suffered considerable loss. 

Within three days after this repulse, they made 
Jan. another attack with much heavier artillery. Their move- 
ments were concealed by a dense fog, and the intimation 
of their approach was given only by their cannon balls 
crashing through the American camp, but Jackson had 
so strengthened his works, that the British — their guns 
dismounted and silenced — were again compelled to retire ; 
but it was to make preparations for a grand assault. 

Presently twenty-two hundred Kentucky riflemen 

Jan. arrived ; of whom unfortunately one-half were without 

*■ arms, and could not be supplied. These Jackson placed 

to throw up a second line of intrenclmaents in the rear of 

the first line. 

When prepared, the British moved to the assault, 
under the cover of a battery of six eighteen-pounders, 
which had been erected the previous night. The main 
Jan. column was led by Packenham in person, intending to 
storm the centre, one column moved along the river and 
carried a redoubt, another, led by Gibbs and Keene, ad- 
vanced along the edge of the swamp. 

As the advancing columns came within range, the 
American artillery opened upon them with deadly effect, 



BATTLE OF NEW OELEANS. 637 

yet tliey filled up their ranks and moved steadily on. ^^J^- 

Presently they reached the range of the Kentucky and . 

Tennessee rifles, which poured in a continuous stream of ISID. 
urierrinK bullets. The heads of the columns faltered. 
While endeavoring to rally them, Packenham fell ; Keene 
and Gibbs were both wounded, the latter mortally. The 
command then devolved on General Lambert, who made 
two more unsuccessful attempts to storm the works, but 
was forced to retire, leaving on the field two thousand 
men killed and wounded. Jackson had taken the pre- 
caution to send General Morgan across the river to throw 
up intrenchments directly opposite his own. The night 
previous to the battle, Packenham sent a detachment 
under Colonel Thornton, who drove Morgan from his 
position, but when the main body was defeated he took 
to his boats and hastily retreated. 

In this battle the Americans lost seven men killed and 
as many wounded. 

Taking every precaution to guard against surprise, 
Lambert gradually fell back to the first landing place, 
and then, in the course of twenty days, re-embarked. 

Thus virtually ended the war of 1812. The only 
battles well fought on land, were those directed by new 
men called into active service by the war itself The 
victories at Lundy's Lane and New Orleans were gained 
by soldiers who had been trained but a short time, but 
they were under commanders in whom they had implicit 
confidence. 

Though these successful events were transpiring in 
that distant region, yet on the Atlantic coast, and at 
Washington, it was the gloomiest period of the war. 
Affairs were almost desperate. The treasury exhausted, 
the national credit gone, the terrible law of conscription, 
like an ominous cloud hanging over the people, civil dis- 
cord seemingly ready to spring up between the States ; 



638 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

<^^- the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia yet subject to 

the marauding expeditions of the infamous Cockburn, 

1815. while the inhabitants were crying in vain to the General 
Government for assistance. Nothing favorable had yet 
been heard from the commissioners of peace at Ghent, 
nor even from New Orleans. It was known that a very 
large force of British veterans was in the vicinity of that 
place, and that Jackson was very ill-prepared to meet them. 
As a gleam of sunshine in intense darkness, a rumor, 
by way of Canada, proclaimed that peace had been con- 
cluded ; at the same time came another from the south- 
west that the enemy had been defeated. While all were 
tremblingly anxious for the truth of these rumors, late of 
a Saturday night, a British sloop-of-war, the Favorite, 
commissioned for the purpose, arrived at New York, 
Feb. bringing the treaty of peace, already ratified by the 
British government. The cry of peace ! peace ! ran 
through the city. As if by one impulse the houses were 
illuminated, and the citizens, without distinction of party, 
thronged the streets to congratulate each other. In 
the midst of their own rejoicings they did not forget their 
brethren who were yet ignorant of the welcome news, and 
messengers were sent in everj' direction. In thirty-two 
hours, the express with the tidings reached Boston. 
There the excitement was almost unbounded. The 
people assembled in crowds to hear the news, which had 
so unexpectedly brought relief to their distresses. The 
bells rang their merriest peal, and the schools received a 
holiday. Flags and streamers were soon displayed on the 
vessels which had lain so long idle at the wharf. Before 
night, carpenters and riggers were at work, sailors were 
engaged, cargoes were gassing on board ; Boston was her- 
self again in commercial activity. The reception of the 
news was followed by similar rejoicings all along the coast, 
and throughout the country. To add "still more to the 
happiness, as well as the gratification of the nation, in a 



THANKSGIVINGS — THE FRIGATE PRESIDENT CAPTURED. 639 



few days was confirmed the rumor of the total defeat of ^^j^^- 
the British hefore New Orleans. , 

The Senate unanimously ratified the treaty within 1815. 
thirty hours after it was laid before them. The President 
speedily issued a proclamation, announcing the fact, that 
once more peace reigned throughout the land. A day for Feb. 
thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessing, was ob- 
served by the nation. 

The treaty provided for the mutual restoration of aU 
places taken during the war ; also for deternaining the 
northern boundary, and other matters of minor importance 
were amicably arranged. But not a word was said on the 
impressment question, for the settlement of which the 
war had ostensibly been continued after the first two 
months. Both parties seem to have been heartily tired 
of fighting ; though Great Britain wished to restrain 
what she thought an alarming grasping spirit in the New 
Kepublic, as evidenced in the acquisition of Louisiana and 
the attempts on Canada. 

A few days after the ratification of the treaty, the 
President recommended to Congress the passage of a law 
to guard against incidents which, during the periods of war 
in Europe, might tend to interrupt peace, enjoining that 
" American vessels be navigated exclusively by American 
seamen, either natives or such as are already naturalized," 
thus endeavoring to gain by legislation what could not be 
obtained by war. Yet one object had been secured — we 
hear no more of the impressment of American seamen. 

Previous to the announcement of peace, the command- 
ers of some of the national vessels determined to evade the 
blockading enemy and escape to. sea. Commodore De- jan. 
oatur, on board the frigate President, commanding the ^^• 
sloops Hornet and Peacock to follow, attempted to evade 
the blockade of the port of New York. Passing out in 
the night, after being unfortunately aground for some 



640 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, hours, in the morning he fell in with the British squadron, 
J 1 by whom he was chased. One of the enemy, the frigate 

1S15. Eudymion, commenced an engagement, but after a run- 
ning fight, she was effectually disabled, and fain to haul 
off. The President unfortunately was also crippled, and 
the other British vessels coming up, Decatur was com- 
pelled to strike his colors. 

A few days after, the Hornet and Peacock avoided the 
blockade, and proceeded to their rendezvous, off the Cape 
of Good Hope. On her way the Hornet, Captain Biddle, 

Mar. fell in with and captured the British brig Penguin. The 
latter was made a complete wreck, and as such was set on 
fire. The Peacock joined her consort, and in company 
they sailed to the Indian Ocean. The Hornet was soon 
after chased by a British seventy-four, and in order to 
escape, she was compelled to throw her guns and nearly 
all her armament overboard, in which condition she re- 
turned to New York. The Peacock, Captain Warring- 

j„pe ton, continued on to the East Indies, where she captureil 

St'- the cruiser Nautilus. 

The Constitution, Captain Stewart, also evaded the 
blockade off Boston harbor. On a moonlight night she 
fell in with two war vessels off the port of Lisbon. They 
prepared to engage, but the Constitution manoeuvred to 
keep the wind at about an equal distance from her an- 

Feb. tagonists. Captain Stewart, seizing a favorable oppor- 
"0. tunity, directed all his force upon the vessel nearest, 
which almost immediately struck ; then he captured the 
other in a .similar manner. The prizes proved to be the 
British sloops-of-war Cyane and Levant. These captures 
were all made after the articles of peace were signed. 

Soon after the commencement of the war with Britain, 
the Dey of Algiers, thinking the Americans would have 
no means of punishing him, renewed his old practice of 
piracy. Pretending to be dissatisfied with the presents 
he had received from the American government, be di.s- 



COMMODORE DECATUR HUMBLES THE DEY OF ALGIERS. G41 

missed Lear, the consul, threatening to reduce him and ^^^^.'■ 

Ills family, and all the Americans in Algiers, to slavery, a 

fate which Lear escaped by paying a large ransom. Some 1815. 
American vessels were afterward seized by the pirates, and 
their crews reduced to slavery. 

Two months after the conclusion of peace, an Ameri- 
can squadron, \inder Decatur, consisting of three large 
frigates and seven other vessels of war, sailed for the 
Mediterranean. Six weeks later, Bainbridge followed May. 
with the Independence, the new seventy-four, accompanied 
by other war vessels ; on the way he was also joined by 
the Congress frigate. But before his arrival in the Medi- 
terranean, the energetic Decatur had brought the Dey 
to terms. On the second day after passing through the 
Straits of Gibraltar, he fell in with the largest frigate of 
,the Dey under his high Admiral, on a cruise for Ameri- 
can merchantmen. After a fight of less than thirty 
minutes the Algerine was captured ; two days after 
another cruiser shared a similar fate. When the squadron 
appeared before Algiers, the intelligence of these disasters, 
by which he had lost his best ship, and six hundred men, 
had greatly humbled the Dey. To escape a worse pun- 
ishment, he gladly submitted to the indignity of signing, 
on Decatur's quarter-deck, a humiliating treat}'. He •Juno 
bound himself to make indemnities for his extortions ; to 
surrender all his prisoners without ransom, and to re- 
nounce all claim for tribute from the American govern- 
ment, as well as his barbarous practice of piracy and re- 
ducing prisoners to slavery. 

Decatur proceeded immediately to Tunis and Tripoli, 
where he demanded and received indemnity for some 
American vessels, at whose captures, in their harbors, by 
the English, they had connived. Thus, in a few weeks, 
these barbarians were taught a lesson which they have not 
yet forgotten. When Bainbridge arrived, he found all 
the difSculties arranged. The united navy, consisting of 
41 ' 



Ii42 HISTORT OF THE AlIEEICAN PEOPLE. 

'xwv' ^''"'■teen vessels, visited the principal ports of the Medi- 
. terranean. Their victories over the mistress of the ocean, 



} 



1815. secured them treatment manifesting high respect. 

The autumn following the close of the war, a great 

council of the North-western Indian tribes was held, at 

which they made peace with each other. Afterward they 

all made peace with the United States. Thus apprehen- 

Sept. sions of future Indian hostilities were removed. 

The war left the finances of the country in a very 
confused state. The banks in existence, except those in 
New England, were unable to redeem their notes in specie, 
and confidence in their promises to pay was wanting. The 
national debt, in consequence of the war, was known to be 
more than one hundred millions of dollars. In order to 
remove some of the burdens resting upon the people, the 
Secretary of the Treasury, A. J. Dallas, proposed to remit 
some of the internal taxes, which had been levied during 
the last few years. Instead of which he advised the im- 
position of duties on imports, not merely to secure a revenue, 
but also to protect the manufactures which had sprimg 
into existence during the war. The President likewise, in 
his annual message, urged the adoption of such a policy. 

To aid in rectifying the financial disorders in the 
1817. coimtry, Congress chartered, for twenty years, a National 
Mar. Bank, with a capital of thirty-five millions of dollars. It 
commenced operations at Philadelphia, and, in connection 
with its branches in other States, afforded the people a uni- 
form currency redeemable at all times with gold and silver. 

A bill designed to compel the local banks to paj 
specie was passed, ordering that all dues to the government 
should be paid in gold and silver, or " in treasury notes, 
notes of the Bank of the United States, or in notes of banks 
payable and paid on demand in specie." 

The Territory of Indiana having adopted a constitu- 
A^ept. tion, presented herself for admission into the Union, and 
was received. 



o 




CXlie^^ ^-^^^OaJt^ 





CX^i^^^T^^il) M?Avs^V/...^C^j^,Xl^^ 




//<^^^^[^^r^^^ 





GEORGE DENISON PRENTICE. 



JAMES GORDON BENNETT. 



! 



FITCH FULTON THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. 643 

John Fitch, an uneducated watchmaker of Philadel- 9^j^- 
phia, conceived the design of propelling boats by steam. 



He applied to Congress for assistance, but, unfortunately, 1785. 
was refused ; then, with a similar result, he apjjlied to the 
Spanish authorities of Louisiana. Some years later he 
found means to construct a boat, and to make a trial trip 
on the Delaware. The boat went at the rate of eight 
miles an hour, but unfortunately the boiler exploded. One 
disaster followed another, and poor John Fitch died, the 
victim of disappointment, but full of faith that others 
would yet perfect his invention : he desired to be buried 
on the 'banks of the Ohio, that boats propelled by steam 
might pass near his last resting place. In less than 
twenty years after his death the steamer Clermont passed 
up the Hudson from New York to Albany. 1807. 

The Clermont was the work of Kobert Fulton, a native 
of Pennsylvania, once a pupil of West, the painter. He 
had a decided turn for mechanics, and had studied the sub- 
ject many years in Europe, where he received pecuniary 
aid and encouragement from Robert R. Livingston, then 
American minister at Paris. 

To American enterprise is due the honor of launching 
the first steamboat and the first Ocean steamer — the 
Savannah — that crossed the Atlantic. She left New York, 1818. 
went to Savannah, and thence to Europe, where she was 
an object of great interest. Twenty years later the April 
British steamer Great Western came to New York in 
fourteen days. 

Madison's Administration, so full of important events, 
drew to a close. James Monroe, also from Virginia, had 
been elected his successor, and Daniel D. Tompkins, of 
New York, Vice-President. The latter had been Governor 
of that State, and in that capacity been most efficient 
in aiding the country in the war just closed. At onetime 
he sustained the garrison of the city by his own private 
credit. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. 

A Return to the earlier Policy of the Government. — The President's Toar 
in the Eastern States. — The Colonization Society. — Revolutions in the 
Spanish Colonies. — Indian War ; the Scniinoles. — General Jackson in 
the Field. — Purchase of Florida.-^The Mi.ssoiiri Compromise. — Manu- 
factures. — Increase of Tariff. — Visit of Lafayette^ 

CHAP. Since the close of the war, party distinctions were fast 

'_ losing their influence. In the minds of the great majonty 

1817. of the people, names were giving place to ideas. The na- 
tion was prepared for the quiet revival of the leading prin- 
ciples of Wasliington's administration. The people had 
not in so many words tlms formally decided; — ^but to return 
to the policy of the earlier days of the Government seemed 
the only means to remedy existing evils, and to guard 
against their recurrence in the future. This may be said 
in relation to the revenue as arising from commerce, the 
finances, the policy toward foreign nations, and in the 
means of national defence both by sea and land. 

The new President in his inaugural fully indorsed these 
doctrines, and they were echoed and re-echoed throughout 
the land as the true policy, while some of the old Eepub- 
licans characterized them as being veritable Federalism 
under another name. The President pointed to the ex- 
perience of tlie nation in the last struggle, and unhesi- 
tatingly advised not only fortifications on the coast with 
garrisons, but a navy strong enough to maintain the dig- 



Mar 
4. 



THE president's TOUR COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 645 

nity and neutrality of the United States, as well as pro- chap. 
tect commerce ; he also recommended that a knowledge — __ 
of naval and military science should be kept up. In ad- 1817 
dition, that domestic manufactures be protected by im- 
posts on foreign merchandise, and also, internal improve- 
ments be aided by the national government, if such ex- 
penditure was in accordance with the spirit of the Con- 
stitution. 

Though professing to be much gratified that the party 
spirit lately so rampant was allayed, the President took 
good care to appoint none but his most devoted adherents 
to the offices within his gift. John Quincy Adams was 
recalled from the court of St. James to become Secretary 
of State. The other members of his cabinet were Wil- 
liam H. Crawford of Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury ; 
Crowningshield of Massachusetts, Secretary of the Navy ; 
John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, and William Wirt, 
Attorney-General. 

The President, some months after his inauguration, 
made a tour through the Eastern States. The sentiments 
of his address had become difiused, and prepared the way 
for his receiving a warm reception in the Federal town of 
Boston, and throughout New England generally. It was 
enthusiastically proclaimed that the people were once 
more to be harmonious in their views of national policy. 

During the following session of Congress the American 
Colonization Society was formed at Washington. It was 
designed to provide a home beyond the limits of the 
United States for the free people of color who should de- 
sire " to emigrate. The condition of these people in the 
slaveholding States, as well as the laws in some of the 
others, that forbade their settling within their borders, led 
to the formation of the Society. The enterprise was 
ardently advocated by Henry Clay, Judge Washington, 
John Randolph, and other southern statesmen. This So- 



646 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



CHAP ciety established the now flourishiug Colony of Liberia on 
the west coast of Africa. 

181T. * 

The influence of the Eevolution had not been without 
effect upon other nations. The Spanish colonies of South 
America threw off their allegiance to the mother country, 
and declared themselves independent. Under the pre- 
tence of having commissions from these new Republics, 
a company of adventurers, principally drawn from Cbarles- 
ton and Savannah, seized Amelia Island, off the harbor 
of St. Augustine. These worthies soon began to smuggle 
merchandise and slaves into the United States. Yet, as 
a cloak to their deeds, they proclaimed they weie block- 
ading the port of St. Augustine. A similar haunt for 
buccaneers had existed for some time at Galveston in 
Texas. Both these establishments were broken up by 
order of the United States Government. 

The condition of the South American republics excited 
great sympathy in the minds of the peojjle. Some were 
advocates for giving them aid, while others were anxious 
that Congress should, at least,'ackuowledge their independ- 
ence. In defiance of the President's proclamation to the 
contrary, cruisers, bearing the flag of these Republics, were 
fitted out in some of the ports of the United States to 
prey upon Spanish commerce. 

These ditficulties, combined with other causes, led to 
a new Indian war in the South. Numbers of Seminoles, 
refugee Creeks, and runaway negroes, living in the Span- 
ish Territory, south of Flint river, began to pillage the 
Georgia settlements north of that river. General Gaines, 
who was in-command at the nearest fort, demanded that 
these murderers and robbers should be given up. The 
Indians refused, on the ground that they were not the ag- 
gressors. Soon after a collision occurred, in which several 
Nov. Indians were killed. Their death was terribly revenged 
^*?- upon the people on board a boat ascending the Apalachi- 



JACKSON SUBDUES THE INDIANS — PURCHASE OF FLORIDA. 647 

cola, with supplies for Fort Scott. More than forty per- chap 

sons, consisting of men, woinen, and cliildren, were mas- 

sacred. The War De])artraent ordered General Jackson 1817. 
to invade the Indian Territory, and " bring the war to a 
speedy and effectual close." In three montlis he was on 
the ground, with an army composed of Georgians and 
Tennesseeans. He moved to the vicinity of where Talla- 
hassee now stands ; the savages made little resistance, but 
abandoned their towns, and their cattle and grain. With 
his usual energy, Jackson pressed on, and, without cere- 
mony, seized St. Mark's, on Appalachee Bay, the only Mar. 
Spanish fort in that part of Florida, on the ground that 
its officers were aiding and abetting the Indians in their 
hostilities to the United States. One of the American 
armed vessels on the coast hoisted British colors, and two 
of the hostile Creek chiefs were decoyed on board. These 
chiefs Jackson unceremoniously hanged. On one of the April 
incursions against the enemy, two British subjects, Kobert 
C. Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, traders among 
the Indians, were taken prisoners. These two men were 
put on trial for their lives before a court-martial, on the 
charge of aiding the Indians. They were found guilty 
and sentenced to death, and immediately executed. The 
measure was much censured as uonecessaiy and unwar- 
ranted. Notwithstanding the protest of the Spanish 
governor against his invasion of Florida, Jackson soon ap- 
peared before Pensacola, which place surrendered. The 
governor in the mean time fled to a fort further down the Maj, 
bay, and finally to Havana. 

These arbitrary proceedings were protested against by- 
Don Onis, the Spanish Minister at Washington. The 
matter however was not pressed, as negotiations were soon 
after entered upon to purchase the territory in dispute. 

American citizens had claims amountins to five mil- 
lions of dollars against the Spanish government. Don 
Onis received instructions from home, that authorized 



048 HISTORY OP THE AMERICAlsT PEOPLE. 

xl v^' ^^™ *'' ^^^^ Florida to the United States for these claims 
The purchase was thus made, the American Government 

182]. assuming the debt. Two years later Spain ratified the 
Treaty. Florida was then organized as a Territory, and 
General Jackson was appointed its first Governor. 

The American people have never been indiiferent to 
the political as well as the moral aspects of slavery. 
From the adoption of the Constitution till the time of 
which we write, the conscience and the sympathy of the 
religious portion of the nation, both North and South, 
found their expression on the subject in memorials ad- 
dressed to their ecclesiastical assemblies, whose resolutions 
in reply condemned the system. 
1787. The Continental Congress legislated specially on the 

subject in adopting the ordinance by which the region 
north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi was conse- 
!7fiu. crated to freedom. During the second session of the First 
Congress, petitions were presented to that body, praying 
it to take measures to free the nation of the system. The 
committee to whom these memorials were referred, re- 
ported that Congress was not authorized by the Constitu- 
tion to interfere with slavery as existing in the individual 
States. In accordance with this view, that body has ever 
acted, when disposing of the numerous memorials on the 
subject that have, from time to time, been presented to it. 

The Northern States, for a quarter of a century, had 

been gradually freeing themselves of the institution, or 

making provision to that effect, while in the Southern 

States a different sentiment had b2en on tlie increase. 

The acquisition of Louisiana had given to them a vast 

region in which slave labor was profitable, especially in 

the cidtivation of cotton. These antagonist opinions 

were suddenly brought into collision, and a strong sectional 

■,?\^' feeling was elicited. 

Feb. ° 

10. The territory of Missouri asked permission to form a 



DEBATES ON THE RESTRICTION OF SLAVERY. 649 

constitution, preparatory to her admission into the Union S?yF- 

as a State. When the question was before the House of . 

Representatives, James W. Talhnadge, a member from 1819 
New York, proposed to insert a cla.use, prohibiting the 
further introduction of slaves into the territory, and also 
another clause granting freedom to the children of slaves 
already there, when tbey should attain the age of twenty- 
five years. 

After a spirited debate both these propositions were 
adopted. The day following the passage of this bill came 
up a similar one to organize the Territory of Arkansas. 
This bill, after a strenuous effort to insert similar clauses, 
was filially passed without any restriction as to slavery. 

The States admitted into the Union, since the adop- 
tion of the Constitution, had happened to come in alter- 
nately as non-slaveholding, and as slaveholding — Vermont 
.•md Kentucky ; Tennessee and Ohio ; Louisiana and In- 
diana ; Mississippi and Illinois. As Alabama had ap- 
plied for admission as a slave State, it was urged that 
Missouri should be admitted as free. This proposition 
soon lost its force by the application of Maine, the north- 
eastern part of Massachusetts, presenting herself to be 
admitted as a free State. Here was an offset to Alabama, 
leaving Missouri to make the next slave State. 

In the consideration of these bills the subject of 
slavery restriction in the territories came up for discussion. 
The members from the Southern States insisted that any 
restriction upon Missouri would violate the pledge given • 
to the inhabitants of Louisiana, at the time of its pur- 
chase, that they should enjoy " all the privileges of citi- 
zens of the United States ; " that such a restriction 
would eventually interfere with State rigljts ; that the 
citizens of slaveholding States had the right to talvC their 
property into the territories of the Union. It was urged 
that it would be an act of humanity and a blessing to 
tBe poor slave, whose lot was so hard in the old exhausted 



650 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

<^H^P- States, to transfer him to the fertile plains of the west ; 

that this would only be the diffusion of the system, but 

1819. not its extension, as the number of slaves would not be 
increased thereby ; and that the prohibition of slaveiy 
would diminish emigration from the South into the ter- 
ritories. 

To these arguments it was replied : it wus true that 
Congress was forbidden by the Constitution to interfere 
with slavery in the original thirteen States, but that this 
did not apply to the territories. They were the property 
of the Union, and Congress had the control of their or- 
ganization. Would Congress be justified in spreading 
over them an institution which even its advocates on the 
floor of the house had again and again deplored as an evil ? 

It was contended that slave labor and free labor could 
nut coexist on the same soil ; and should the introduction 
of a few thousands of slaves exclude millions of freemen 
from the territories ? ' 

The debate was conducted with great animation, 
mingled with much bitterness, and threats to dissolve the 
Union. The intense excitement was not limited to the 
National Legislature ; it extended throughout the country, 
and it was by no means diminished by the speeches made 
op the subject on the floor of Congress, nor by the fact, 
which the discussion revealed, that during the previous 
year more than fourteen thousand slaves had been smug- 
gled into the United States, from Africa and the West 
Indies. 

The legislatures of some of the Northern States ex- 
pressed their wish that slavery should not go beyond the 
Mississippi, whUe the people held conventions and me- 
morialized Congress. Opposite views were as strongly 
expressed by some of the Southern States. Thus the 
country was agitated for nearly two years, and the ditii- 

' The Debates in Congress, Niles's Register, Vols 16, 17, and 18. 



THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 651 

culty was still unsettled. When the bill came before the chap. 

•' _ XLVI. 

Senate, Jesse B. Thomas of! Illinois moved as an amend- 

mont, a clause forbidding the introduction of slavery into tS2a 
the Louisiana Territory north of thirty-six degrees and 
thirty minutes north latitude, and west of the proposed 
State of Missouri. This was the line of the famous Mis- 
souri Compromise. The House, however, would not at 
first agree to this arrangement ; but finally, through means 
of a committee of conference, Maine was admitted, and 
Missouri, on these conditions, after she should adopt a 
constitution. 

The following year, when the constitution of Missouri 
was presented to Congress, it was found to contain a 
clause that prohibited free people of color from settling in 
the State. Though this clause " was adopted for the 
sake of peace — for the sake of internal tranquillity— and to 
prevent the agitation of the slave question," ' yet it* was 
viewed far differently in Congress, and was the occasion 
of opening the restriction question with all its bitterness. 
The insertion of the oifensive clause, under the circum- 
stances, seemed to manifest as Kttle regard for the Consti- 
tution of the United States, as respect for the opinions of 
those opposed to the extension of slavery. The citizens 
of any one State were, by the Constitution, entitled to 
the privileges of citizens in the other States. Free people 
of color were thus recognized in some of the States, but 
by this clause they were deprived of their rights. Another 
committee of conference, of wliich Henry Clay was the 
prime mover, was api»ointed by the Senate and House of 
Representatives. The difficulty was again compromised 
by which Missouri was to be admitted on the express con- 
dition that she would expunge the obnoxious clause, and 
then the President was authorized to admit her by procla- 
mation. The Missouri Legislature complied, and the fact 

' Benton's Thirty Years' View, A^ol. i. p. 8. 



652 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, vvas communicated to the President, who proclaimed hei 

admission to the family of States. Thus the slavery agi- 

1821. tation was allayed for a time, but the same question 
"^' under different phases, has returned again and again, and 
will no doubt continue thus to do till the conscience of 
the nation is fully satisfied on the subject — for questions 
involving the moral and pohtical relations of so many mil- 
lions cannot be lightly passed over. 

A new interest was awakened in behalf of the South 
American Republics. Great eflorts had been made by 
Henry Clay, during their struggle, to induce Congress to 
acknowledge their independence, but it was then thought 
Mar. premature ; now the bill was passed. The next year the 
"""■ President declared in his message that " as a principle the 
American Continents, by the free and independent posi- 
tion which they have assumed and maintained, are hence- 
forth not to be considered as subjects for future coloniza- 
tion by any European power." This has since been 
known as the Monroe Doctrine, though its authorship, it 
would seem, belongs rather to his Secretary of State, John 
Quincy Adams. 

Great financial distress prevailed during this period 
throughout the land. The immense amount of foreign, 
especially English, merchandise sent, at reduced prices, 
into the country, paralyzed its industry. These goods 
were thus sent for the express purpose of ruining the 
American manufactures, called into existence by the 
necessities of the war — an object which they effectually 
accomplished. The distress of the people, reacted upon 
the general government. When they refused to buy, be- 
cause unable to pay, the importations fell off, and as a 
consequence, the revenue was so diminished that the 
government, from necessity, resorted to loans in order to 
obtain means of defraying its current expenses. The 
general distress was not a little increased by the measures 
of the National Bank. Indeed no confidence could be 



THE VISIT OF LAFAYETTE. 653 

placed in the banks except those of New England, which ^^ap 

_ A 1j VI. 

redeemed their notes in specie when presented, while . 

those in other parts of the Union became bankrupt. The 1824. 
density of the population of the New England States 
onabled them to engage with advantage in manufactures, 
and also in shipping, and the coasting trade, which was 
especially profitable. For these reasons they withstood 
the financial crisis, while the agricultural and manufactur- 
ing interests of the other States were overwhelmed. 

The country, by its own innate energy, began to re- 
cover from these financial difficulties. As a means to 
accomplish that desirable object, an increase of tariff was 
imposed on imported merchandise, thus to protect do- 
mestic industry from undue foreign competition, to create 
a diversity of pursuits, and develop the resources of the 
nation. 

Congress also manifested its sense of justice by mak- 
ing provision for the wants of the surviving officers and 1818. 
soldiers of the Revolution, and for the widows and orphans 
of those deceased. 

The Ust year of Monroe's administration was signal- 
ized by an event highly gratifying to the people, an event 
linking the past with the present, the days of conflict and . 
trial with the days of peace and prosperity. The vener- 
able Lafayette came to the United States, the invited 
guest of the nation. Around every fireside tradition had '" 
fondly cherished his memory, and the people loved him as 
the noble and generous stranger who, in the days of their 
fathers, had sacrificed his fortune and shed his blood in 
their country's cause. They vied with each other in do- 
ing him honor. His journey from State to State was one 
continued triumphal procession; compared with this sponta- 
neous expression of a nation's gratitude, how insignificant 
the proudest triumph of Roman consul or emperor ! The 
vessel designated to carry him home was the new frigate 
Brandywine, a name — given by the new President, John 



654 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

<^HAP. Quincy Adams — that conveyed a delicate compliment, as 

on the banks of that little stream he was wounded in his 

1825. first battle in the cause of American freedom. The 
American people wished to manifest still further their 
sense of obligation, and Congress conferred upon him two 
hundred thousand dollars and a township of land. 

When the time came to choose a successor to Monroe — 
now in his second term — four candidates were put in 
nomination ; John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, General 
Jackson, and William H. Crawford. No one of the can- 
didates received a majority of the popular vote, and the 
election devolved upon the House of Representatives, by 
whom Adams was chosen. John C. Calhoun had been 
chosen Vice-President by the popular vote. 

This election gave the death-blow to the custom of 
nominating candidates for the Presidency by a caucus 
held by certain members of Congress. Previous to this, 
for twenty-four successive years, the candidates had been 
thus nominated, and consequently chosen from a single 
State. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

JOHN QUINCT ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION. 

Maii\ifactures and Internal Improvements. — Indian Lands in Georgia.— 
Death of the ex-Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. — Free 
Masonry. — Protection to American Industiy. — Debates in Congre?8. — 
Presidential Contest. 

The new President invited able .and experienced men to ^^^{l- 

form his cabinet, at the head of which was Henry Clay, 

as Secretary of State. This administration was one of 1826. 
remarkable prosperity ; the nation was gradually advanc- 
ing in wealth and happiness, gaining strength at home, 
and securing more and more of the respect of nations 
abroad. Every branch of industry was increasing in pros- 
perity ; agriculture, commerce, and manufactures. 

Numerous companies had been formed for the purpose 
of making iron nails, and also for the manufacture of 1815. 
broadclotlis, though the latter were soon involved in ruin 
by " a deluge of English cloths." In those days fine v/ool 
was worth a dollar and a half a poured, while badly made 
broadcloth cost from eight to twelve dollars a yard. 

The wars of Europe opened a wide field for enterprise 
in the carrying trade. American genius and art produced 
the style of ship known as the clippei-. These far out- 
stripped all others in sailing ; they made rapid voyages, 
and, what was important in those days, they were able 
very often to evade the French and English cruisers. At 
first, the United States had but little of their own products 



656 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^HAP. to send to the old world, but presently Eli Whitney in- 
vented the cotton-gin, by which the seed was separated 

1793. from the cotton, and that gradually became the most im- 
portant article of export. 

The great National Road — the wort of the General 
Government — extending across the Alleghany Mountains, 
from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, on the Ohio, 
and to be continued to the Mississippi, had just been 

1820. completed, at an expense of one million seven hundred 
thousand dollars. It was commenced in Jefferson's ad- 
ministration, and had been fourteen years in building. 
Its beneficial effects upon the country were very great, in 
thus connecting the valley of the Ohio with the seaboard. 
A still more important work was also finished — the 

1S25. Erie Canal, uniting the Hudson and the waters of the 
great lakes. It was the work of the State of New York, 
and was completed after a labor of eight years. The pro- 
ject was at first deemed visionary and impracticable : 
but owing principally to the energy of De Witt Clinton, 
privately, as well as a memb.T of the Legislature and as 
Governor, the work was carried through. The completion 
and success of these improvements encouraged the con- 
struction of others in variuus parts of the Union — one, 

1832. the Ohio Canal, from Lake Erie to the Ohio river. The 
first railway was the Quincy, in Massachusetts, designed 

1S2T. to transport granite to the sea-shore. The first locomo- 
tive used in the United States was on the Hudson and 

1832. Mohawk Eailroad. 

A difficult question arose in relation to the removal of 
the Creeks and the Cherakees, from their lands in Georgia 
and Alabama, to the region beyond the Mississippi. 
Georgia claimed jurisdiction over the Indians within her 
territory. Originally claiming the region west of her 
1802. boundary, she ceded it to the United States, on condition 
that the latter should, by purchase, extinguish the title 



DEATH OF EX-rKESIDENTS JEFFERSON AKD ADAMS. C57 

of the Indian lands reserved within her own limits. The ^.^^}; 

ALiV 11. 

national government promised to fulfil its part of the 

agreement "as early as the same could be peaceably oh- 1825. 
tained on reasonable terms." Twenty-five years had 
]iassed, and these titles had not been purchased. The' 
Indians were not willing to sell thoir territory. However, 
A treaty had been recently made by some of the chiefs, 
who ceded the lands, but the great majority of the Indians 
declared these chiefs had no authority to seU the property 
<if the nation. Thus, according to the original contract, 
the national government could not extinguish the Indian 
titles. 

The government cancelled this treaty, but the State 
of Georgia determined to enforce it. The latter sent sur- 
veyors into the Indian country, to divide the lands into 
portions suitable for farms, before distributing them by 
lottery to the citizens of the State. The Federal govern- 
ment took the part of the poor Indians, and the President 
proclaimed that he would enforce the laws committed to 
his trust, while Troup, the bellicose Governor of Georgia, 
wrote to the Secretary of War : "From the first decisive 
act of hostility, you will be considered and treated as a 
public enemy." The matter for the present was adjusted 
by the Creeks consenting to dispose of their lands, and to 
emigrate. Kather than be thus harassed they were will- 
ing to remove from their happy homes, and give up their 
hopes of civilization. 

This year was marked by the deaths of two dis- 
tinguished men, whose names are identified with the 
history of the government — John Adams and Thomas 
.Jefferson. Both were men of liberal education, and both 
chose the profession of the law ; both had been consistent 
and strenuous advocates of national independence, and 
were upon the committee which proposed that famous 
declaration. The one drew it up, and the other was its 
most efficient supporter ; both signed it ; both, had been 
42 



6J58 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^vii °^ foreign missions ; botli were first Vice-Presidents, ani 

then became Presidents. " They ended their earthly 

1826. career at the same time and in the same way ; in the 
regular course of nature, in the repose and tranquillity of 
retirement, in the bosoms of their families, on the soil 
which their labors had contributed to make free," and 
within a few hours of each other, on the fiftieth anniver- 
sary of American independence. 

A certain William Morgan, of "Western New York, a 
member of the society of Free Masons, suddenly disap- 
peared, he having been seized and forcibly carried off. 
Sept. He had proposed to publish a book revealing the secrets 
of the order, some of whose members were charged with his 
murder. The affair created a groat excitement, which led 
to the formation of a political party, whose avowed object 
was to exclude Free Masons from ofiSce. In several of 
the States the part}' polled a large number of votes, but 
in a year or two it disappeared. 

The 'manufacturing interests were still laboring to sus- 
tain themselves against foreign competition. The senti- 
ment prevailed, especially in the northern States and in 
some of the southern, that measures should be taken to 
protect the industry of the nation. In accordance with 
this view, a convention of delegates from twenty-two 
States of the Union assembled at Harrisburg, in Pennsyl- 
182't' vania. Four of the slave States did not send delegates. 

The Convention memorialized Congress to grant pro- 
tection to American industry ; to impose a tariff on im- 
ported goods, sufficiently high to shield American pro- 
ducers of the same articles from the ruinous effects of 
foreign competition ; and they also asked that this policy 
should be fixed, and thus give stability to the enterprise 
of the country. Capital would not be invested in domes- 
tic manufactures, if they were liable at any time to be 
ruined ekher by the combination of foreign competitorsi 



THE TARIFF DEBATES IN CONGEESS. 659 

or by change of policy at home. The people of New chap. 

England had complained of these changes. Their climate 

and soil forbade their becoming rivals of their sister States 1828. 
in agriculture, and their industry ha^ been turned into 
other channels, especially those of commerce and the 
fisheries. Upon them had fallen nearly all the losses 
inflicted by the cruisers of France and England, and yet 
they had been more discouraged and had sufiered more 
loss by the embargoes and other restrictions of their own 
government. During this period, the central position of 
New York had been gradually drawing to herself much of 
the commerce and shijjping that once belonged to Boston. 
A territory so extensive, and climates so diverse, brought 
into existence many kinds of industry that were liable to 
be injured or ruined by foreign competition. At first 
New England was opposed to the policy of protection, 
and the Middle and Soutliern States were in its favor. 
Now this was reversed. New England had been forced 
to adapt her industry to the change of national policy, 
while the South had changed her views. 

Said Webster, when this bill was under discussion in 
Congress : " New England held back and labored to re- 
strain the General Grovernment from the adoption of this 
policy, but when it was adopted she then adapted herself 
to it, and turned herself to manufactures, but now just as 
she is successful, another change is to be brought about, 
and she set adrift in another direction." 

The South, on the other hand, expected to reap the 
harvest, not merely from the exports of the raw material, 
but also a due share of the profits arising from manu- 
factures. She was disapjjointed in seeing northern towns 
becoming cities, and southern cities decaying ; the North 
a money lender, the South a borrower. "Before the Revo- 
lution she was pre-eminently the richest part of the 
colonies, a position which she fully expected to retain 
after that period. Hers were the only exports fiom the 



660 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

^HAP. land ; the North was dependent upon commerce and fish- 

eries ; both precarious. Shice the Kevolution, the South 

1828. had exported more in value than three times all that the 
mines of Mexico bad produced for the same period, yet 
she did not prosper. This effect she attributed to the 
l)rotective tariifs of the National Government. She failed 
to notice that this decHne began before these tariffs were 
ili'y imposed. Other causes aided in the result.' A bill 
passed Congress, imposing higher duties upon cottons and 
woollens, and also other foreign articles, which would come 
into competition with those of domestic origin. The dis- 
satisfaction felt in South Carolina led, two years after, to 
the open avowal on her part, of the doctrine of nullifica- 
tion and secession, based upon the ground that the act 
was unconstitutional. 

The contest for the office of President was between 
Adams and General Jackson. The " era of good feeling " 
liad passed away, and party lines were stringently drawn. 
The spirit of the contest was more violent than ever be- 
fore ; and the wliole nation seemed moved to its very 
centre. The denunciation of the candidates and their 
principles was, on both sides, unjust, unreasonable and 
disgraceful. The choice fell upon Jackson as President, 
and Calhoun as Vice-President. The election over, the 
excitement calmed down. This fact, as usual, was ad- 
duced as an evidence of the stability of our institutions, 
and of the willingness of the people to submit to the will 
of the majority. Yet who does not lament such exhi- 
bitions of party strife, or their demoralizing effects ? 

The nation had never been in a condition so pros- 
jierous as at this time. The national debt was much 
diminished, and a surplus of more than five millions 
of doUars was in the public treasury. The blessings 
of peace had been showered upon the land, and it was 
rejoicing in prosperity and abundance — the rewards of 
active industry. 

' Benton's Tbirtv Years' View, Chap, xxxiv.. Vol. i. 



CHAPTER XI,VIII. 

JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Appointments to Oflicp. — Removal of the lujians from Georgia. — Bank of 
the United States.— Hayne and Webster's Debate. — Nunification. — The 
Compromise Bill ; its final Passage. — Removal of the Deposits. — 
Effect upon the Country. — Indian Wars. — Black Hawk ; Osceola. — In- 
demnity for French Spoliations. 

The new President nominated the niembers of his cahi- chap. 

net, at the head of which he placed Martin Van Buren ; 

as Secretary of State. The Postmaster-G-eneral was now i829. 
for the first time admitted as a Cabinet Officer. 

The President professed to take the Constitution as 
the chart by which he should be governed in fulfilling the 
duties of his office ; rather, it woidd seem, as he himself 
understood it, than as expounded by the Supreme Court 
of the United States. His vigorous arm was immediately 
exerted in favor of his political friends, and this gave to 
his administration a decided partisan character. The 
former Presidents, during a period of forty-four years, liad 
removed sixty-four persons from office ; during his rule 
of eight years, Jackson removed six hundred and ninety, 
and put in their places his political friends. These sweep- 
ing removals secured ardent partisans, as well as produced 
bitter opponents ; but regardless of either friend or foe, 
the President pursued the course he had marked out, with 
his wonted determination. 



662 HISTORY OF THE AilEPaCAN PEOPLE. 

xrvm' During his administration, an unusual number of ex- 

. citing questions came up for consideration, and the man; 

1'529. interests thus involved affected tlie people in every Stfxte 
in the Union. The first important measure, was the re- 
moval of the Cherokee Indians from the State of Georgia. 
They had been protected by the General Government, 
under Adams. The Supreme Court of the United States 
had decided in their favor, and against the action of the 
State ; but that decision had little influence with the 
President. He did not rebuke the State, when she be- 
gan to drive them from their homes, and to distribute 
their lands, many of them cultivated farms, among hei 
own citizens. He sent General Scott with troojis to re- 
move them, and his kindness and persuasions induced 
them to migrate peacefully ; yet with lamentations, they 

1833 took leave of " the beloved land." 

Their sacrifices as a people were very great, not only 
in the loss of property, but in the check given to their 
industrial and moral progress. The self-den3'ing labors 
of missionaries and teachers had enabled them to advance 
rapidly toward a Christianized civilization. They derived 
their .sustenance from their own cultivated fields ; they 
clothed themselves almost entirely with the fabrics which 
their women spun and wove ; they lived in settled habi- 
tations, some of wood and some of brick ; they made 
provision for the education of their children — five hun- 
dred of whom were in schools — besides endowing a Na- 
tional Academy fur the youth further advanced. They 
also established a newspaper, printed partly in English, 
and partly in their own language. " We hope," said 
they, " that with God's blessing the time will soon come 
when the words war-whoop and scalping-knife will be 
heard no more." 

Two of their missionaries, the Kev. S. A. Worcester 
and Dr. Elisur Butler, were ruthlessly imprisoned in the 
penitentiary by the authority of the State of Georgia, 



UNITED STATES BANK FOOT'S RESOLUTION. 663 

tliougli they acted in accordance with the law of the land, SP^^j 

as interpreted by the Supreme Court of the United States, 

in refusing; to take the oatli of allemance to the State. 1829. 

Chief Justice Marshall, in pronouncing the opinion of 
the court, declared the act of the State to be " repugnant to 
the Constitution, treaties and laws of the United States ; 
and therefore void, and ought to be reversed and annulled," 
and the prisoners discharged. Yet tliese men obtained 
no redress on their appeal to the General Government, 
either for themselves or the Indians. 

When at length liberated from prison, the missionaries 
accompanied the Indians to their distant homes beyond 
the Mississippi, there to labor for their good. 

The President, in his first message to Congress, inti- 
mated his hostility to the Bank of the United States, and 
his design of refusing his signature to any biU renewing its 
charter. 

However, when the stockholders of the Bank applied 
to Congress, a biU to renew its charter passed both Houses, 
and the President refused to sign it. He gave, as a reason, 
his opinion that Congress had no constitutional authority 
to charter such an institution, and moreover he deemed it 
inexpedient to continue the Bank. 

As the bill could not obtain the reriuisite two-thirds 
vote to become a law, the Bank was forced to close its 
atiairs, when its charter should expire. 1836. 



• 



Senator Foot, of Connecticut, submitted a resolution of 
inquiry as to the disposal of the public lands. The de- I830. 
bate on the resolution took a wide range, in the course of 
which the young and brilliant Senator, Robert Y. Hayne, 
of South Carolina, avowed the opinion that any State had 
a right, as a sovereign jDower, to declare null find void any 
act of Congress, which that State deemed unconstitutional. 
This was the first time that the doctrine of nullification 



(364 HISTORY OF THE AMEWCAN PEOPLE. 

XLvai ^^^^ ^^^^ openly maiiitainpd in the councils of the nation — 

the sentiments rather of Calhoun the Vice-President than 

18.32. of the speaker himself: a doctrine based upon the as- 
sumption that the National Government was a compact 
between tlie States, and that any of them could at pleas- 
ure recede from the Union. 

Daniel Webster at once pointed out the injurious re- 
sults to the Union if these principles were acted upon. 

This debate, continued for several days, and not onlyfrom 
the masterly manner in which it was conducted, but from 
the influence it exerted upon the minds of the American 
people, was one of the most important that ever occurred 
in the Halls of Congress. Webster clearly exposed the 
fallacy of the argument adduced to prove that the Na- 
tional Government was a compact of sovereign, independ- 
ent States ; or that any of tliem were at liberty to with- 
draw from the Union, without the consent of theothers. On 
the contrary, he urged that the Constitution was the work of 
the people themselves, not as members of each independent 
State, but as members of all the States ; and that the 
Supreme Court was the tribimal authorized to decide in 
cases of conflict between the States and the General 
Government. Says the venerable Chancellor Kent jn 
reference to the discussion, and especially Webster's 
speech : " It turned the attention of the public to the 
great doctrines of national rights and national union. 
Constitutional law was rescued from the archives of our 
tribunals and the libraries of our lawyers, placed rmder 
the eye, and submitted to the judgment of the American 
people." And heartily did they respond to the sentiment 
that the " Union must be preserved." The importance 
of the subject awakened an intense interest in the nation, 
and the reports of the discussion were read and commented 
upon by millions. This debate really settled the question 
of nullification ; and its influence upon the public mind 



REVISION OF THE TARIFF NULLIFICATION. 665 

created a moral power which gave a death-blow to the ^jj^^'j^j 

ilaugerous design then in existence. 

1832. 

Congress, in revising the tarift', instead of diminishing, 
increased tlie duties on many articles. This gave still July- 
greater offence to the cotton-growing States, who com- 
plained, that they in consequence paid exorbitant prices, 
especially for cottons and woollens. The question be- 
came in some respects a sectional one. The North on the 
one hand had accommodated her industry to manufac- 
tures ; she had acquired skill, and was unwilhug to sac- 
rifice this and also an immense amount of invested 
ca.pital. She thought it unjust that her interests should 
be injured, if not ruined, by a change of the .policy under 
which she had been compelled to turn her attention to 
that particular sphere of industry. On the otlier hand, 
the South, pointing to her exhausted fields, especially in 
the Atlantic States, and their diminution of population, 
exclaimed : See what the tariff has done ! Says McDuffie 
of South Carolina, on the floor of Congress : " Look, sir, at 
the present aspect of the Southern States. In no part of 
Europe will you see the same indications of decay. De- 
serted villages, houses falling to ruin, impoverished lands 
thrown out of cultivation." The reason that the South 
did not derive benefit from the imposition of a tariff was 
admitted by Hayne himself. " The slaves," said he in 
the Senate, " are too improvident, too incapable of minute, 
constant, delicate attention, and the persevering industry 
which is essential to the success of manufacturing estab- 
lishments." Similar sentiments were expressed by other 
members of Congress. 

The States of Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina 
were the most opposed to the measure, but only the latter 
took the responsibility of openly resisting the collection 
of duties imposed by this law of Congress. She published 
an ordinance to that effect, and denied the authority of 



Feb. 
11. 



QQS HISTORY OF TUB AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

VFJ^f.- the General Government to enforce what she deemed an 

unconstitutional law. 

1S33. The President immediately issued a proclamation, 

moderate in its language but determined in tfine. In 
plain terms he expressed his views upon the subject, and 
intimated that he would vindicate the power intrusted to 
his hands. He appealed " to the understanding and 
patriotism of the people of the State, and warned them 
of the consequences that must inevitably result from 
obeying the dictates of the convention," which had ad- 
vised resistance to the law. 

Previous to this, Calhoun had resigned the vice-presi- 
dency, and now appeared in the Senate in the }ilace of 
Hayne, who Ijad retired to take the office of Governor of 
South Carolina, and who now replied to the President by 
a counter proclamation. He warned the people of the 
State against " the dangerous and pernicious doctrines" ' 
in that document, and called upon them to disregard 
" those vain menaces " of military force, " to be fully pre- 
pared to sustain the dignity and protect the liberties of 
the State, if need be, witli their lives and fortunes." 

Nothing daunted. South Carolina proclaimed herself 
hostile to the Union, and resolved, to maintain her rights 
as a Sovereign State, l)y organizing troops and providing 
munitions of war. Meantime her Legislature passed laws 
which forbade the collection of United States revenue 
within her boundaries ; and intimated that if an attempt 
was made by the General Government to enforce the col- 
lection of such duties, sh 3 would exercise her right to 
secede from the Union, ami " forthwith proceed to organ- 
ize a separate government." The attitude of the State 
was imposing and resolute. But the President was 
equally as decided in his measures to enforce the laws. 
Soon a national vessel, with troojis on board, appeared in 
the harbor of Charleston ; they came to aid the officers 
in the collection of the revenue. The State receded from 



Mar. 
3. 



THE COMPROMISE BILL ITS FINAL PASSAGE. 667 

her defiant position, and the storm calmed down ; the ^|^,f' '■ 

famous Tariff Compromise, just passed by Congress, fur- _ 

nished a convenient reason for that act of prudence. 183B. 

Henry Clay was the principal author of the measure, 
and to him belongs the honor of introducing it into the 
Senate. The Compromise consisted in gradually dimin- 
ishing for ten years the imposts, till they should arrive at 
a uniform rate of twenty per cent. — the revenue standard 
for which the opponents of the tariff contended. 

The secret history of the final passage of that Com- 
promise bill in the Senate is singular. Its opponents 
had denounced the principle of protection to American 
industry, as unconstitutional. In order to prevent, op- 
position to the bill on that ground, after it had become a 
law, it was necessary that those opposing it should be 
induced to vote for it ; to vote, not only for the bill as a 
whole, but for its separate articles. The crisis was near. 
The President had determined to enforce the law ; he 
scouted the idea of compromise, and stood ready to arrest 
the leaders, especially Calhoun, and bring him to trial for 
treason. John M. Clayton, of Delaware, privately gave 
the parties to understand that he should move to lay the 
bill on the table, where it should lie, unless the nullifiers 
should one and all give it their individual support. He 
assured them that there was a sufficient number of 
senators (whose names he refused to give), to prevent its 
passage, if this condition was not complied with. The 
amendments to the bill had all passed but the last ; the 
one which embodied the principle of home valuation. 
This Calhoun and his friends opposed with great vehe- 
mence. Clayton moved to lay the bill on the table, and 
no persuasion could induce him to withdraw the motion. 
The opponents of the measure withdrew from the hall for 
a few minutes, to consult. One of their number presently 
returned and requested Clayton to withdraw his motion, 
to give time to consider the amendment. He consented, 



668 HISTORY OF THE AMEltlCAN PEOPLE. 

xmn ^^*^ ^^"^ understanding that, if necessary, he would re 
new it. That night, consultations were held by the 



1833. Southern members. The next day, when the bill was 
under consideration, it was intimated that it could be 
passed without the aid of Calhoim's vote. But Clayton 
was inflexible — his vote must be given for the bill, or 
g ' nothing would be secured by it. It was the last day of 
the session — another Congress would not meet for months. 
It was a solemn hour. If the impending collision be- 
tween the State and the Government should occur, who 
could tell what would be the result .^ How could South 
Carolina be extricated from the difficulties of her position ? 
Calhoun remained to the last, his friends one by one 
voting for the amendment. After making a few remarks 
on the conditions uj)on which he should act, he also voted 
for the amendment, and afterward for the bill as a whole.' 
On the fourth of March, General Jackson entered 
upon his second term of office, with Martin Van Buren, of 
New York, as Vice-President. The principal opposing 
candidate was Henry Clay. 

According to its charter, the Bank of the 'United 
States was the legal depository of the public funds. The 
Secretary of the Treasury only, with the sanction of 
Congress, had authority to remove them. By resolution. 
Congress had expressed the opinion that the public 
moneys were safe in the keeping of the Bank. The 
President thought differently. When Congress was not 
in session, he made known to the Cabinet his intention to 
remove the public funds from the custody of the Bank, 
and to transfer them to certain State Banks. The 
majority of the Cabinet were opposed to the measure. 
As he could not reach the money except through the 
Secretary of the Treasury, William J. Duane, he directed 

' Thirty Years' View, Vol. i. Chap. Ixxxv. 



EEMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITS — INDIAN WARS. 669 

him to remove the deposits ; hut the Secretary viewing ^f^^': 

the measure as " unnecessary, unwise, arbitrary, and un- , 

just," refused. The President immediately dismissed 1833. 
him from office, and appointed Roger B. Taney, the 
present Chief Justice, in his place, who hastened to issue 
an order to the collectors, forbidding them to deposit the Oct. 
])ublic moneys in the Bank of the United States. The 
intention being to withdraw the funds already in its pos- 
session, as they should be needed in defraying the current 
expenses of the government. 

The measure spread distrust through the whole mer- 
cantile community, and destroyed that confidence which 
is essential to the success of business transactions. The 
notes of the Bank were at par throughout the Union, but 
now the whole system of exchange was thrown into con- 
fusion. Universal distress prevailed. The wages of daily 
laborers were esjjeciallj' depressed. Memorials from all 
parts of the country poured into Congress, asking it to 
adopt measures that would give relief. After a time, the 
State banks endeavored to relieve the monetary distress 
by liberal loans. These loans, in turn, were the occasion 
of exciting a spirit of speculation that produced still 
greater evils. 

The Administration was not exempt from Indian 
troubles. Some of the north-western tribes, led by Black 
Hawk, a chief of the Sac nation, made incursions against ^^^^ 
the frontier settlements of Illinois. The government £ent 
troops, under General Atlrinson, who soon, with the aid 
of the militia, drove the savages beyond the Mississippi. 
In one of the skirmishes, Black Hawk himself was cap- 
tured. To impress him with the greatness of the nation, 
he was first taken to Washington, and then to visit the 
principal eastern cities. 

Two years afterward an attempt was made by the 
government to remove the Seminole Indians beyond the 



C70 HISTORT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

CHAP. Mississippi Eiver. They refused to emigrate, and another 

'■ Indian war was the consequence. Skulking through the 

1834. swamps and woods of Florida, the savages would suddenly 
dash into the settlements to murder and destroy. Many 
valuable lives were thus lost. Among these were Major 
Dade, and more than a hundred men, who all perished 
by falling into an ambuscade. On the same day, the 
United States' agent, Mr. Wiley Thompson, and five of 
his friends were killed and scalped by Osceola, the leading 
chief of the Seiuinoles. Tlio j^oar before, Thompson had 
injudiciously offended the savage, by confining hftu in 
irons for a day. Though he feigned friendship, his proud 
spirit thirsted to revenge the insult. The Creeks joined 
the Seminoles, and attacked several villages, both in 
Georgia and Alabama. The unhealthy vapors of the 
swamps, the bites of poisonous snakes and insects, inflict- 
ed intense suflerings upon the troops. It was impossible 
to subdue the Indians, who, after their attacks upon the 
"Whites, would retreat to their hrding- places in the swamps. 
Led by Osceola, the war, or rather skirmishing, continued 
for years ; the troops were bafiied again and again. At 
length his own policy, of making treaties only to break 
them, was practised upon himself. One day he appeared 
under a flag of truce at the American camp. General 
1837. Jessup, who was in command, immediately made him 
prisoner, with all his followers. Osceola was sent to 
Charleston, and while there confined in Fort Moultrie, a 
fever terminated his eventful life. 

Colonel Zachary Taylor, afterward President of the 

1842. United States, was sent to succeed Jessup. Taylor, by 

great exertions, brought the war to a close, but not till 

it had lasted altogether seven years, and cost the nation 

1836. many Uves, and thirty millions of dollars. 

During this administration, died John Marshall, one 
of the most remarkable men of the time, at the age ol 
four-score. Ho had served in the army of the Revolution, 



CLAIMS AGAINST FRANCE SETTLED. 671. 

and won the esteem of Washington ; had heen a member |'^^,^ 

of the House of Eepresentatives, Secretary of State, 

Secretary of War, and Minister to France. President John 1830. 
Adams nominated him Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court, over which for thirty-five years he presided " with 
native dignity and unpretending grace." His sohdity of 
judgment, his reasoning powers, his acute and penetrating 
mind, were remarkable, and none the less striking were the 
purity of his Christian life and his simplicity of manner. 

The maxim of foreign policy acted upon by the Presi- 
dent was "to ask nothing but what was right, and to 
submit to nothing that was wrong." Amen'can merchants 
had claims, amounting to five millions of dollars, against 
the French government. They had remained imsettled 
for twenty years. These indemnities were for '•' unlawful 
seizures, captures, and destruction of vessels and cargoes," 
during the wars of Napoleon. The government of Louis 
Philippe acknowledged their justice, and by treaty en- 
gaged to pay them. But the Chamber of Deputies, at 
different times during three years, refused to appropriate 
the money. The President sent a message to Congress, 
recommending reprisals upon French property if the treaty 
was not complied with. The French Chambers took 
offence at the tone of the message, and although Congress 
had not acted upon its suggestions, they refused to pay 
the money unless the obnoxious proposal was withdrawn. 
This brought another message, in which the President re- 
viewed the difficulties existing between the governments. 
Said he ; " Come what may, the explanation which 
France demands can never be accorded ; and no arma- 
ment (alluding to a French fleet then on our coast), 
however powerful and imposing, will, I trust, deter us 
from discharging the high duties which we owe to our 
constituents, to our national character, and to the world." 
He suggested to Congress to prohibit the entrance of 



672 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPI.E. 

CHAP. French imports into our ports, and tlie interdiction of 

xr.viii. . , . 

all commercial intercourse. 

1S3C. At this time Great Britain offered her mediation. The 

oifer was accepted by both parties. In the mean time 

the Chamber of Deputies appropriated the money to 

satisfy the claims and fulfil the treaty. 

Equally successful was the President in arranging 
other difficulties of long standing ; claims for similar 
seizures and spoliations against Spain, Naples and DoD- 
mark. Also tieaties of commerce and friendship were ne- 
gotiated with Russia, and the Ottoman Empire — the 
first American treaty with the latter power. 

Two States, Arkansas and Michigan, were added to 
the Union ; the original thirteen had now doubled. 

After a spirited contest, Martin Van Buren, of Xew 
(^ov. York, was elected President by the people, and Richard 
M. Johnson, of Kentucky, Vice-President, not by the elec- 
toral vote, but by the Senate. 

General Jackson's administration will ever be memo- 
rable for its measures ; and none the less for the custom 
then introduced, and unfortunately, wdth rare exceptions, 
still continued, of removing persons from office for political 
]>urposes, and filling their places with partisans. 

The nation was greatly agitated by the confficts grow- 
ing out of the diversity of opinion on the policy of the 
President and his adherents. But energy and determina- 
tion enabled him to carry his points in defiance of opposi- 
tion and established usages 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Apparent Prosperity. — The Specie Circular. — The Surplus Funds. — Sue- 
pension of Specie Payments. — Speculation. — Special Session of Con- 
gress. — The Sub-Treasury. — State Indebtedness. 

The last year of Jackson's administration appeared to chap. 
be one. of very great national prosperity. The public 



debt had been cancelled two years before, and there were 1837. 
nearly forty millions of dollars of surplus. This pros- 
perity was fallacious in the extreme. 

The State Banks, called in derision the " Pets," with 
whom the deposits had been placed, loaned money freely, 
with the expectation that they should continue to have 
the use of the public funds until they were called for by 
the Government. That time seemed to be distant, as its 
revenue was greater than its current expenses. 

Other banks sj^rang into existence, until the number 
amounted, throughout the land, to seven hundred and fifty. 
These institutions had very little gold or silver in their 
vaults, as a means to redeem the notes with which they 
flooded the country, giving a fictitious value to every thing 
that was bought or sold. They rivalled each other in af- 
fording facilities for the wildest schemes of speculation. 

The public lands became an object of this speculation, 
until the sales amounted to millions in a month. Two 
Slots — the one of the late President ; the other of Con- 
43 



674 HISTOHY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, gress — combined to hasten the crisis. President Jackson 

XUX. ? , . , . , 11-,, 

. m oraer to restrain the undue sales ot the jninhc lands, 

1837. had issued, through the Treasury Department, an order 
known as the Specie Circular, requiring the collectors 
at the offices to receive only gold and silver in payments 
\s3ii ^'^'' Ifind. Six months later. Congress jjassed a law to dis- 
tribute among the Sto.tes the government funds, on de- 
posit in the banks. They were thus forced to call in their 
loans to meet this demand, while the Sjiecic Circular 
arrested the circulation of their notes, and brought them 
back to their counters, to be exchanged for gold and silver. 
Within six months after this distribution was ordered, the 
business of the whole country was 23rostrated : all im- 
])rovements ceased, and twenty thousand laboring men 
were, within a few weeks, thrown out of employment in 
New York City alone, where the failures amounted to one 
hundred millions of dollars, while those of New Orleans 
were as great in proportion, being twenty-seven millions. 
May. A few weeks later, the banks of New York City suspended 
specie payment ; an example which the other banks of 
the country hastened to follow. 

Previous to the suspension of payments, a large and 
respectable committee of merchants of New Y'"ork visited 
Washington, to lay before the new President the state ot 
the pountry. Similar representations went from almost 
every section of the land. The President denied the re- 
quest of the committee to rescind the Specie Circular, but 
proposed to call a Special Session of Congress, on the first 
Monday of the foUowing September. 

The extent to which speculation raged seems almost 
fabulous. The compromise tariff had nearly run its course, 
and the duty arrived at its minimum ; foreign merchandise 
was imported in unheard-of quantities, thus ruining do- 
mestic industry ; internal improvements, because of the 
facility in obtaining loans, were projected to an extent 
almost without limit ; the public lands were bought by 



SPECULATION— THE GOVERNMENT EMBAERASSED. 675 

the millions of acres, and cities and villages were miilti- chap 

plied on pajjer by hundreds ; and stranger still, the sites 

of these prospective cities, divided into lots, were fre- 1837. 
quently made the basis of money transactions. 

A few months before, the General Government was 
free from debt, and had a surplus of forty millions. Now 
the surplus had been given to the States ; the importers 
had neither gold nor silver to pay duties, and the Govern- 
ment itself was deprived of the means to defray its cur- 
rent expenses. 

When Congress assembled, the President made no Sept. 
suggestion as to the manner in which the commercial em- 
barrassments of the country might be relieved, on the 
ground that the General Government was unauthorized 
by the Constitution to afford such relief He was there- 
fore in favor of the people taking care of themselves. The 
message contained, however, two recommendations ; one 
the issue of Treasury notes, to relieve the Government's 
own embarrassments, the other an Independent Treasury 
for the public funds. The object of the latter was to 
avoid the liability of loss by depositing the public moneys 
in banks. These treasuries were to be located at suitable 
places ; the sub-treasurers to be appointed by the Presi- 
dent, and to give bonds for the proper fulfilment of their 
duties. 

The measure was opposed, lest the withdrawal of so 
much gold and silver from circulation would injure com- 
mercial operations. The bill failed in the House, though 
it passed the. Senate. Three years later it was estab- 
lished ; the next year repealed — then re-enacted, five 
years after, and is still the law of the land. 

The Legislatures of many of the States became imbued 
with the spirit of speculation, and as a means to obtain 
loans, issued State stocks 'to the amount of one hundred 
millions. This was done under the laudable pretext of 
developing their resources, by internal improvements. 



G76 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Bight of the States failed to pay the interest on these 

loans or stocks. In time they recovered from the shock, 

1H38. and hut one of them, Mississippi, and one territory, Florida, 
repudiated their debt and defied their creditors. These 
loans were principally obtained in Europe, where, on the 
subject of these failures to pay, great indignation was ex- 
pressed. The whole nation was dishonored ; — ^^two years 
later, when the National Government wished to obtain a 
loan, her agents could not induce a capitalist in all 
Europe to risk a dollar in such investment. 

As the administration of Van Buren drew to a close, 
the financial condition of the country did not much im- 
prove. However, his party nominated him, as well as Vice- 
President Johnson, for a second term. The opposing can- 
didate was William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, whom we 
have seen as a popular general of the north-west during 

1812. the last war, as well as filling many civil oifices with 
honor to himself and profit to the country. On the same 
ticket was John Tyler of Virginia, as the candidate for 

1840. Vice-President. Harrison was elected by a very large 
majority. The commercial disasters of the country were 
generally attributed to the interference of the Government 
with the currency ; this belief had caused a great revul- 
Bion in the public mind. 



CHAPTER L. 

HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION. 

The Inauguration. — Death of Hairison. — Tyler President. — Sub-Treasury 
Act repealed. — Bankrupt Law. — The Bank Charters ; their Vetoes. — 
Proposition to treat with Great Britain. — Insurrection in Canada. — The 
Caroline. — Trial of McLeod. — Boundary Disputes in Maine. — Lord 
Ashburton. — Treaty of Washington. — Questions of Visit and Impress- 
ment. — Exploring Expedition. — Texas Colonization ; struggles. — Inde- 
pendence. — Siege of Goliad and the Alamo. — Davy Crocket. — Massacre 
of Prisoners. — Battle of San Jacinto. — Houston President. — Question 
of Annexation in Congress. — Texas Annexed. — Disturbances in Rhode 
Island. — loiva and Florida become States. 

An immense concourse of peoiile, many of them from cbap. 

distant parts of the Union, assembled at Washington to 1_ 

witness the inauguration of General Harrison. His ad- i84i. 
dress on that occasion was replete with wisdom ; liberal ^f"^' 
and generous, and patriotic in its tone ; a transcript of 
the sincerity of his own heart. His selection of officers to 
compose his Cabinet was unanimously confirmed by the 
Senate ; at its head was Daniel Webster, as Secretary of 
State. 

The certainty of a change of policy in the measures 
of the General Government inspired confidence in the 
commercial world, and the nation, made wiser by adver- 
sity, began to hope. But the expectations of the Presi- 
dent's friends were doomed to be sadly disappointed. His 
first official act was to issue a proclamation, calling a 
special session of Congress, to meet on the 31st of the 



678 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAK I'EOPLE. 

CHAP, following May, to take iuto consideration the condition of 

the coiintrj'. Before that day arrived, the President was 

1841. no more. Suddenly taken ill, all human remedies failed 
'"'■ to give relief, and he expired, just one month after his 
inauguration, in his sixty-nintJi year. For the first time, 
death had removed the Chief Magistrate of the Union 
, when in office. The loss came home to the hearts of the 
peoijle. Throughout the length and hreadth of the laud 
they vied with each other in doing honor to his memory. 
Since the death of Washington, the nation had not 
mourned a loss with such imposing ceremonies. This deep 
and pervading sentiment of sorrow was the tribute due the 
memory of a good man ; one who had sensed his country 
with most scrupulous integrit}' for more than forty years ; 
whose whole life, public and private, was without reproach. 
Though in public office the greater part of his life; his 
salaries had passed away in charities and hospitalities ; 
to his house the humblest of the land as well as the most 
exalted, had been welcomed ; the poor man's friend, he 
himself died poor. At its very first session after his 
death, Congress, " out of consideration of his expenses in 
removing to the seat of government, and the limited 
means which he had left behind," granted his widow one 
year's presidential salary — twenty-five thousand dollars. 

JOHN TYLER. 

The Vice-President became the President, according 
to the provisions of the Constitution. He retained the 
Cabinet of his predecessor, giving them assurances of his 
''1^ resjiect. Congress convened for the extra session at the 
time designated. One of its first measures was to repeal 
the Sub-Treasury act of the last administration. To 
this regulation for the keeping of the public funds much 
of the pressure in the money market was attributed. 

The failures in the mercantile world had brought riiic 



THE NATIONAL BANK THE VETOES. 679 

upon thousands of upright and enterprising men. They chap. 

had become hopelessly bankrupt, in many instances, by 

circumstances beyond their control ; involved in debts, 1H42 
which would forever crush their energies without bene- 
fitting their creditors, themselves, or the country. To 
relieve persons thus insolvent, Congress passed a general 
bankrupt law. The effect of the measure was beneficial, 
and when the necessity for its existence had passed away, 
if was repealed. 

One of the issues involved in tlie last presidential 
election, was the policy of establishing a United States 
Bank or " Financial Agent," which should facilitate mer- 
cantile exchanges throughout the Union. The result of 
the election had shown that the majority of the people 
were in favor of such an institution. In compliance with 
this expression of the popular will, both Houses of Con- 
gress passed a bill chartering such a National Bank. 
Contrary to expectation, the President refused to give it his 
signature. Another bill was passed, modified in its pro- 
visions to accord with his own suggestions. This he also 
refused to sign. These successive vetoes raised a terrible 
storm of indignation against their author, though when 
nominated he was known to be opposed to the United 
States Bank. The great party, by whose votes he held 
his high position, charged him with double dealing ; with 
betraying the trust they had committed to his hands. 
The members of his cabinet immediately resigned their 
places, and gave to the country tiieir reasons for so doing. 
Daniel Webster alone remained, lest the public interests 
would suffer by his withdrawal before tlie completion of 
certain negotiations upon which he was then engaged. 

Between the United States government and that of 
Great Britain two important questions of controversy re- 
mained unadjusted. One growing out of certain revolu- 



680 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



CHAP, tionary disturbances along the Canada borders ; and tlie 
' other in relation to the north-eastern boundary between 
1842. the State of Maine and the British province of New 
Brunswick. The former of these had been pending dur- 
ing the })revious administration, tlie latter for fifty years. 

Soon after entering upon his duties as Secretary of 
State, Mr. Webster, with the sanction of the President, 
intimated to the British Minister at Washington, that 
the Government of the United States was desirous to 
arrange the boundary dispute by agreeing on a line by 
compromise, or convention. The proposition was received 
in the friendly spirit in which it had been given, and the 
British ministry deputed Lord Ashburton, as special 
minister to the United States, with full powers to settle 
1837. all points of controversy between the two governments. 

During the first year of Van Buren's administration 
the people of both the Cauadas endeavored to throw ofi 
their allegiance to England, and to declare themselves in- 
dependent. This movement enlisted the sympathies of 
great numbers in the neighboring States. In northern 
New York associations were formed, called " Hunters' 
Lodges," whose object was to aid the patriots. These 
illegal combinations flourished in spite of the efforts made 
by the President and the Governor of New York to sup- 
press them. 

About seven hundred of these " sympathizers," with 
some of the jDatriots, took possession of Navy Island, in 
Niagara river, near the Canada shore, to which province it 
belonged. Thither the steamboat Caroline was employed 
in transporting men, arms, and provisions from Schlosser, 
on the American shore. The British authorities deter- 
mined to destroy this boat. Accordingly a detachment 
was sent on a dark night in December for that purpose ; 
the officer in command not finding the boat at Navy 
Island, as expected, passed over to Schlosser, where she 
was moored at the dock. He captured the boat, and in 



• THE AFFAIR OF THE CAROLINE— M'LEOD. 681 

the short struggle which ensued, an American was killed, chap 
The Caroline was taken out into the middle of the stream, . 



there set on fire, and left to pass over the falls in a hlaze. 18;17. 
The British Minister at Washington, Mr. Fox, imme- 
diately avowed the act, and justified it on the ground that 
it was done in self-defence. This avowal changed the 
aspect of the controversy — it was now between the gov- 
ernments. The excitement was by no means allayed, nor 
the activity of the " lodges " diminished. Three years is+o. 
afterward a still stronger feeling of hostility sprang up 
between the two countries. A certain Alexander Mc- 
Leod, a British subject, living in Canada, it was rumored, 
had boasted of being at the taking of the Caroline, and 
also that he himself had killed the American. McLeod 
visited the State of New York at the time just mentioned, 
the authorities of which immediately arrested him on the 
charge of murder. The British government demanded his 
release, unconditionally, on the ground that he was obey- 
ing the orders of his government, which alone was respon- 
sible. The State refused to relinquish, either to the 
National Government or to Great Britain, her right to 
bring the prisoner to trial, for the crime it was alleged he 
had committed on her soil. The trial came on, and Mc- 
Leod was acquitted, he having proved that he was not 
^jresent at the affray at all. In order to prevent, for the 
future, clashings of State jurisdiction with that of the 
National Government, Congress passed a law requiring 
similar cases to be transferred to the United States courts. 
While these events were in progress in the State of 
New York, difficulties, equally ominous, were brewing on • 
the north-eastern boundary. The inhabitants on either 
side undertook to say where the line should be ; as they 
could not agree, the more belligerent were in favor of 
fighting, and consequently some trifling collisions took 
place. The Legislature of Maine even appropriated 
money for the defence of her territorial rights — and further 



682 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, collisions were prevented only Ly the conciliatory and ju- 

dicious policy oi' General Scott, who was sent by the 

1S40. President to maintain the peace. 

These disputes so long unsettled, very greatly dis- 
turbed the harmony existing between the two nations. 
The correspondence between their governments shows that 
at this time the controversy had assumed a serious and 
delicate character, and that it required the exercise ot 
great wisdom, and a mutual conciliatory spirit to prevent 
actual war. 

When negotiations commenced, commissioners from 
the States of Maine and Massachusetts were invited to 
Washington, that they might be consulted on the subject. 
The treaty was soon concluded. The United States ob- 
tained the navigation of the river St. Johu's to its mouth, 
and the very important military position — Rouse's Point, 
at the outlet of Lake Champlain. In exchange tor these 
were given a small territory of swamps, heath, and rocks, 
and barren mountains, covered with snow the greater part 
of the year. A territory valuable to Great Britain only 
because it enabled her to make a direct road from the 
province of New Brunswick to the St. Lawrence. Both 
nations were benefited by the arrangement, and the vexa- 
tious question of more than half a century's standing was 
amicably settled. 

Another article provided for the mutual rendition of 
fugitives from justice ; but only those who had committed 
acts which would be deemed criminal in the country 
where they had taken refuge. This important measure 
has given general satisfaction to both the contracting 
parties, and has served since as a model for similar treaties 
between some of the European powers. The two govern- 
ments also agreed to maintain each a certain number of 
armed vessels on the coast of Africa to aid in suppressing 
the slave-trade. 

After the treaty was concluded two important sub- 



THE QUESTIONS OF SEARCH AND IMPRESSMENT. 683 

jects unexpectedly came up for discussion. One was the chap. 

right assumed by British cruisers to visit, and if necessary 

search, merchant vessels belonging toother nations. In a 1842, 
letter to the American minister at London, and designed 
for the English secretaiy of Foreign Aifairs, Webster de- 
nied the " right," and sustained his opinions against its 
exercise by arguments that have not yet been invalidated. 

The other subject was the impressment of seamen by 
British cruisers from American merchant vessels. In a 
letter to Lord Ashburton the Secretary of State assumed 
that it did not comport with the self-respect of the United 
States to enter into stipulations in relation to the right 
of impressment ; as if for a moment the existence of such 
a right could be admitted. On the contrary-that the ex- 
ercise of impressment should be deemed an aggression and 
repelled as such. In an able and conciliatory discussion 
he jiointed out the inconsistency of such a right with the 
laws of nations. Yet in the happiest language expressed 
the desire that for the welfare of both countries, all occa- 
sions of irritation should be removed. He announced as 
the basis of the policy of the United States : '" Every 
merchant-vessel on the high seas is rightfully considered 
as a part of the territory of the country to which it be- 
longs ; " that " in every regularly documented American 
merchant-vessel the crew who navigate it will find their 
protection in the flag which is over them," and that " the 
American Government, then, is prepared to say that the 
practice of impressing seamen from American vessels can- 
not hereafter be allowed to take place." ' In the same just 
and conciliatory spirit was the rejjly of Lord Asliburton. 

An apology was impliedly given for the invasion of 
the territory of the United States in the " affair of the 
Caroline." The negotiators conferred informally upon the 
subject of the northern boundary of Oregon, but for the 

' The Works of Daniel Webster, vol. vi. p. S25. 



684 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, preseni agreed to postpone its settlement. The treaty ot 

Washington marks an important era in our history : — the 

1812. time when the United States toolc that position among 
the nations, to which they were entitled by their power 
and influence. Four years after, Webster said on the 
floor of the Senate : — " I am willing to appeal to the 
public men of the age, whether, in 1842, and in the city 
of Washington, something was not done for the suppres- 
sion of crime, for the true exposition of public law, ibr the 
freedom and securitv of commerce on the ocean, and for 
the peace of the world ? "' 

The government had not been forgetful of the ad- 
vancement of science. It sent out an exploring expedi- 
1838. tion, under Lieutenant Charles Wilkes of the United 
States navy, accompanied by a corps of scientific men, to 
make discoveries in the Antarctic and Pacific oceans. 
After four years it returned bringing the results of inves- 
1842. tigations in Natural History, not valuable to our own 
country alone, but to the world. It sailed ninety thousand 
miles, seventeen hundred of which were along the coast 
of a great Antarctic Continent never seen before by civil- 
ized man. 

The four years of this administration was a period 
fruitful in measures, destined, in their remote consequences, 
to have a varied and almost unlimited influence upon the 
nation. A more important question never came before 
the Houses of Congress, than when the young Republic 
of Texas presented herself at their doors, and asked to be 
annexed to the Union. She came offering a fertile tei-- 
ritory almost sufllcient in extent to make five such States 
as Pennsylvania or New York. The " annexation," led to 
the Mexican war, and that in turn to the acquisition of 
California. 

The region known as Texas had been claimed, but on 
doubtful grounds, as a part of the already purcha.sod tei- 



MOSES AUSTIN IMMIGRATION TO TEXAS. 685 

ritoiy of Louisiana. This claim was, however, waived, and crap. 

when Florida was obtained Texas was tacitly admitted to 

belong to Spain, and when Mexico revolted from the 1842. 
mother country, she became one of the confederattd States 
which formed the Mexican republic. 

The American who originated the plan of colonizing 
Texas, was Moses Austin, a native of Durham, Connec- 
ticut. He was engaged in working the lead mines in 
upper Louisiana, when, in his explorations, he became 
acquainted with the fertile soil and delightful climate of 
Texas. The Spanish Government encouraged immigra- 
tion to that part of the Mexican territory, and it gave 
Austin large grants of land, on condition that he would 181:J. 
introduce as colonists three hundred Catholic families 
from Louisiana. Within a month after these arrange- 
ments were completed, Austin himself died, but appointed 
his son Stephen F. Austin to superintend the planting of 
the colony according to the agreement with the Spanish 
government. To his energy and perseverance may be 
attributed the success of the enterprise. 

Little was known at Mexico of what was in jjrogress 
in that remote region. The Americans, attracted by the 
liberal grants of land and the fine climate, were pouring 
in. In a few years they numbered twenty thousand, very igso. 
few of whom were Catholics, nor did they all come from 
Louisiana, but from the other Southern and Western 
States. i^ 

Meantime in Mexico other great changes were in prog- 
ress. First came the revolution by which she declared 1821. . 
herself no longer under the jurisdiction of Spain. This 
was succeeded by a confederation of States. In that un- 
happy country one revolution succeeded another in rapid 
succ<,'ssion, till finally, Santa Anna, overthrowing the ex- 
isting republic, made himself dictator and tyrant of the 
people. During this time the Texans did not revolt, nor 



686 HISTOBT OF THE AILEEICAS PEOPLE. 

CHAP, ^d they acquiesce. They fbnned a coDstitution, and 
sent Austin to Mexico to ask admission into the con- 

1835. federacy of the repubKc as a State. This request was de- 
nied, and their messenger throvrn into prison. Still Texas 
retained her State officers, and asked that her rights might 
be respected ; when an armed Mexican vessel appeared 
off the coast, and proclaimed that her ports were block- 
aded ; near the same time a Mexican army appeared on 
her western borders, with the intention of arresting her 
State officers, and disarming the inhabitants. It was 
much easier to demand the Texan rifles than to get them. 

Sept The attempt was made at a place named Gonzales, where 
2**- the Mexicans met with a severe repulse. The Texans, 
though few in number, flew to arms throughout the entire 
couniry, and in a few months drove the invaders from 
their soil, and captured and garrisoned the strong forts of 
the Goliad and the mission house of Alamo. Thus they 
manfully resisted the designs of Santa Anna to make 
them submit to his usurped authority, and the struggle 
commenced for their rights, their liberties and their lives. 
There were no bonds of sympathy between the Texans 
and Mexicans : neither in religion nor in customs, nor in 
form of government. The Texan despised the M&xican, 
and the Mexican hated and feared the Texan. 

1836. Six months after these reverses Santa Anna invaded 
Texas with a numerous army. The chaiacter of the war 
he intended to wa§pe may be inferred from his cruel orders 
to shoot every prisoner taken. The Alamo was invested 
by Santa Anna himself. The garrison numbered only 
one hundred and eighty men, while their enemies were as 
sixteen to their one. When summoned to surrender, they, 
knowing the treacherous character of the Mexican Chief, 
refiised. The latter immediately raised the blood-red flag, 
to indicate that he would give no quarter. After repulsing 

„ the besiegers several times, the Texans, worn out with 
6. watchings and labors, were overcome, and w?ien calling foi 



DAVT CROCKET PEISOSEBS MURDERED. 687 

quarter the survivors — only seven — were mercilessly chap. 
butchered. 

Here, surrounded by the bodies of Mexicans who had iSStj, 
fallen by his hand, perished the eccentric Davy Crocket. 
Born on the frontiers of Tennessee, his only education -was 
that received during two months in a common school. 
Though singular in hi.^ mental characteristics, his strong 
common sense and imdaunted spirit, won him the respect 
of his fellow-citizens, and they sent him several times to 
represent them in Congress. When he heard of the strug- 
gle in which the people of Texas were engaged, he hastened 
to their aid, and with untiring energy devoted himself to 
their cause. 

At Goliad the little garrison defended themselves with 
unexampled hravery ; not until their resources failed, 
their ammunition exhausted, and tamine was staring them 
in the face, did they accept the terms offered by the Mexi- 
can in command, and surrendered. Their lives were to 
be spared, and they aided to leave the country. Other 
small parties of Texans in different places had been sur- 
prised and taken prisoners. The following night a courier 
arrived from Santa Anna, bringing orders to put the 
prisoners to death the next morning. 

They were marched in Kttle companies outside the 
town, and there shot ; those attempting to escape were 
cut down by the cavalry. The wounded prisoners were 
then murdered in the same cruel manner ; among the 
wounded who thus suffered, was Colonel Fanning, their 
commander. Thus perished three himdred and thirty 
men, the last words of some of whom were cheers for the 
liberty of Texas. 

A Texan physician. Dr. Grant, was among the 
prisoners, but his hfe was spared on condition that he 
would attend the wounded Mexican soldiers. He was 
also promised that he should have a passport to leave the 
country as soon as they needed his services no more. He 



G88 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CH.\P. faithfully performed his part, but when the soldiers were 

cured, he was tied upon a wild horse, and told to take " his 

1S30. passport and start for home." The cords were cut, aud 
the frightened animal rushed to the woods, where, some 
time after, the mangled body of the poor man was found. 
Santa Anna, with an army of seven thousand men, 
moved on toward the San Jacinto river. G-eneral Samuel 
Houston had only seven hundred and fifty men, their 
only weapons rifles, pistols and bowie-knives ; in their 
element when fighting, they were impatient to attack the 
enemy. The advance division, consisting of fifteen hun- 
dred men, under the command of Santa Anna himself, 
was the flower of the Mexican army. The Mexicans 
were well posted, and their front, before which was an 
open grassy space, was carefully fortified. Houston had 
great difficulty in restraining his men. At three o'clock in 
the afternoon, when Santa Anna and his officers were en- 
joying a sleep, and their men engaged in playing cards, 
Houston passed information along the line that the only 
bridge by which the enemy could escajie was cut down, 
with the order to move rapidly to the attack. The sur- 
prise was complete. In twenty minutes their position 
was forced, and the panic stricken Mexicans leaving every 
thing, fled in confusion. More than six hundred were 
slain, and altogether more than eight hundred taken 
prisoners. The following day a Mexican was found skulk- 
ing in the grass. He asked to be led to head-quarters. 
When brought to the Oak under which were the Texan 
head-quarters, he made himself known as Santa Anna. 
He complimented Houston on the renown he had acquired 
in " conquering the Napoleon of the West." Such was 
April the battle of San Jacinto; the number engaged were com- 
-1- jiaratively few, yet it virtually ended the contest. Santa 
Anna, at the request of Houston, ordered the Mexican 
army to retire from the Territory of Texas. He also ac- 



Oct. 



TEXAS INDEPENDENT QUESTION OF ANNEXATION. 689 

kiiowledged tlie independence of Texas, but the Mexican chap. 
Congre8.s refused to ratify his act. . . 

A month previous to this battle, a convention of dele- 1836. 
gates met at a place named Washington, and declared Jj. 
themselves independent of Mexico. The convention then 
proceeded to form a Constitution, which in due time was 
adopted by the people. Six- months later Houston was 
inaugurated President of the Republic of Texas ; and its 
first Congress assembled.' 

When its people threw off their allegiance to Mexico, 
they naturally turned to more congenial associations ; 
tliey desired to annex themselves to the United States. 

One of the last official acts of General Jackson had 
been to sign a bill recognizing their independence, and 
now the question of their annexation became the absorbing 
topic of political discussion in the United States, in 
every section of which many opposed the measure only 
on the ground that it would incur a war with Mexico, 
whose government still persisted in fruitless efforts to re- 
duce the Texans to obedience. The interminable ques- 
tion of slavery, as usual, was involved in the controversy. 
The South was almost unanimously in favor of annexa- iS'U. 
tion. The genial climate, the fertile soil, and the varied 
productions of Texas, were so many pledges that slave 
labor would there be profitable. A strong party in the 
North was opposed to the measure, lest it should perpetu- 
ate that institution, while one in the South was devising 
plans to preserve the balance of power existing between 
the States in the Senate. 

The subject of annexation, with its varied conse- 
quences, was warmly discussed in both Houses of Con- 
gress, in the newspapers,, and in the assemblies of the 
people. 

Calhoun gave his views by saying ;■ " There were 

' Yoakum's Hist, of Texas. 

44 



690 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, jjowerful reasons why Texas should be a part of this 

. Union. The Southern States, owning a slave population 

1844. were deeply interested in preventing that country from 
having jiower to annoy them." Said Webster : " That 
while I hold to all the original arrangements and compro- 
mises under which the Constitution under which we now 
live was adopted, I never could, and never can, persuade 
myself to be in favor of the admission of other States into 
the Union, as slave States, with the inequalities which 
were allowed and accorded by the Constitution to the 
slaveholding States then in existence." 

Under the auspices of Calhoun, who was now Secre- 
tary of State, a treaty was secretly made with Texas, by 
which she was to be admitted into the Union. But the 
Senate immediately rejected it by a vote more than two 
to one, on the ground that to carry out its provisions 
would involve the country in a war with Mexico. This 
rejection was the signal for raising a great clamor through- 
out the land. Annexation was made a prominent issue 
in the pending presidential election — the De uocratic party 
in favor of the measure, and the Whigs opposed. To in- 
fluence the credulous, it was boldly asserted that England 
was negotiating with Texas to buy her slaves, free them, 
and, having quieted Mexico, to take the republic under 
her special protection. This story General Houston said 
was a pure fabrication ; yet it served a purpose. In cer- 
tain portions of the South conventions were held, in which 
the sentiment " Texas, or Disunion," wasojienly advocated. 
The threats of secession and uniting with Texas, unless 
she was admitted to the Union, had but little effect, 
however, upon the great mass of the people. 

The following year it was proposed to receive Texas 
by a joint resolution of Congress. The House of Repre- 
sentatives passed a bill to that effect, but the Senate 
added an amendment, appointing commissioners to nego- 



THE JOINT RESOLUTIONS — TEXAS ANNEXED. 69] 

tiate with Mexico on the subject. Thus manifesting a chap. 

desire to respect the rights of Mexico as a nation with 

whom we were at peace, and at least make an effort to 1844. 
obtain tlie annexation with her consent, and also the 
settlement of boundaries. 

By a clause in the resolutions the President was 
authorized to adopt either plan. The joint resolutions 
were passed on Saturday, the 2d of March ; Tyler would 
leave office two days later. The President elect, James 
K. Polk, had intimated that if the question came before 
him he should adopt the Senate's plan, by which it was 
hoped an amicable arrangement could be made with 
Mexico.' The retiring President, and his Secretary of 
State, chose to adopt the mode of annexation proposed in 
the House resolutions. A messenger was sent on Sunday 
night the 3d, to carry the proposition with aU speed to 
the Legislature of Texas. 

The opposition to annexing slaveholding territory to the 
Union was so great that Texas came in by compromise. 
Provision was made that four additional States might be 
formed out of the Territory when it should become suffi- 
ciently populous. Those States lying north of the parallel 
of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, north latitude — the 
Missouri Compromise line — were to be free States ; those 
south of the line, to " be admitted into the Union with or 
without slavery as the people of each State asking admission 
may desire." To the original State, the right was accorded 
to prevent any State being formed out of her territory, by 
refusing her consent to the measure. Texas acceded to ]845 
the proposition, and thus became one of the United States, ''"^y 
Her population now amounted to two hundred thousand. 

For nearly two hundred years the people of Rhode 
Island had lived imder the charter granted by Charles II. 
This instrument was remarkable for the liberal provisions 

' Benton's Thirty Years' View, Chap, cxlviii.. Vol. ii. 



692 HISTORY OP THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

^^L^^' ^* contained. The desire to change this charter gave rise 

to two parties, the " Suffrage," and " The Law and 

1845. Order ;" each determined to secure to their own party 
the administration of affairs, and each elected State 
officers.' Thomas W. Dorr, elected governor by the Suf- 
frage party, tried to seize the State arsenal ; the militia 
1843. were called out by the other party, and he was compelled 
18. to flee. In a second attempt his party was overpowered 
by citizen soldiers, and he himself arrested, brought to 
trial, convicted of treason, and sentenced to imprisonment 
for life ; but some time afterward he was pardoned. A 
free constitution was in the mean time adopted by the 
people, under which they are now living. 

Almost the last official act of President Tyler was to 
sign the bill for the admission of Iowa and Florida into 
the Union. " Two States, which seem to have but few 
things in common to put them together — one the oldest, 
the other the newest territory — one in the extreme north- 
west of the Union, the other in the extreme south-east — 
one the land of evergreens and perpetual flowers, the othei 
the climate of long and rigorous winter — one maintaining, 
the other repulsing slavery." 



CHAPTER LI 

POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Tlie Presidential Canvass. — Difficulties with Mexico. — General Taylor nt 
Corpus Christi. — Oregon Territory ; respective Claims to. — Settlement 
of Boundnry. — Taylor marches to the Rio Grande. — Thornton's Party 
surprised. — Attack on Fort Brown. — Battle of Palo Alto; of Resaoa 
de la Palma. — Matamoras occupied. — Measures of Congress.— The 
Volunteers. — Plan of Operations. — Mexico declares War. — General 
Wool. — General Worth.; — The Capture of Monterey. 

Ox the 4th of March, James Knox Polk, of Tennessee, chap. 

LI 

was inaugurated President, and George MiiHin Dallas, of . 

Pennsylvania, Vice-President ; James Buchanan was ap- 1945. 
pointed Secretary of State. 

The canvass had been one of unusual interest and 
spirit. The candidates of the Whig party were Henry 
Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen. The questions in- 
volved were the admission of Texas, and the settlement 
of the boundary line on the north-west, between the 
British possessions and Oregon. The latter — for the 
Whigs were also in favor of its settlement — thrown in by 
the successful party. 

The result of the election was assumed to be the ex- 
pression of the will of the people in relation to the ad- 
mission of Texas, which measure, as we have seen, the 
expiring administration had already consummated. We 
have now to record the events, the consequences in part 
of that measure. 

Though France and England, as well as the United 



694 HISTORY OF THE AMEPaCAN PEOPLE. 

cnAP. States, acknowledged the independence of Texas, Mexicc 

still claimed the territoiy, and threatened to maintain 

1845. her claim by force of arms. In accordance with this 
sentiment, two days after the inauguration of the new 
President, General Almonte, the Mexican minister at 
Washington, formally protested against the "joint reso- 
lutions " of Congress, then demanded his jiassports and 
left the country. 

There were other points of disjiute between the two 
governments. American merchants residing in Mexico, 
comj^lained that their property had been appropriated by 
that government ; that their ships, trading along the 
shores of the Gulf, had been plundered, and they could 
obtain no redress. The United States government again 
and again remonstrated against these outrages. The 
Mexican government, poverty-stricken and distracted by 
broils, was almost in a state of anarchy ; each party as it 
came into power repudiated the engagements made by its 
predecessor. 
1831. A treaty had been signed by which redress for these 

grievances was promised ; the promise was not fulfilled, 
and the aggressions continued. Nine years later the 
Mexican government again acknowledged the justness of 
these demands, which now amounted to six millions of 
dollars, and pledged itself to jiay them in twenty instal- 
ments, of three hundred thousand dollars each. Three of 
these had been paid, when the annexation of Texas took 
place, and, in consequence of that event, Mexico refused 
further compliance with the treaty. 

Even if Mexico gave her consent for the annexation 
of Texas, another question arose : What was the western 
boundary of that territory ; the Nueces or the Eio 
Grande ? Both parties claimed the region lying between 
these two rivers. The Legislature of Texas, alarmed at 
the warlike attitude assumed by Mexico, requested the 
United States government to protect their territory. Ac- 



TAYLOR AT CORPUS CHRISTI — THE OREGON QUESTION. 695 

cordingly the President sent General Zachary Taylor, with ^^^'■ 

fifteen hundred men, called the " Army of Occupation," 

" to take position in the country between the Nueces and 1845. 
the Rio Grande, and to repel any invasion of the Texan 
territory." General Taylor formed his camp at Corpus 
Christi, a small village at the mouth of the Nueces. There Sept, 
he remained till the following spring. Also a portion of 
the Home squadron, under Commodore Conner, was sent 
into the Gulf to co-operate with the army. Both " were 
ordered to commit no act of hostility against Mexico un- 
less she declared war, or was Jierself the aggressor by 
striking the first blow." ' 

Though Mexico, in her weakness and distraction, had 
temporized and recently rejected an American minister, 
yet it was understood that she was now willing to receive 
one, and accordingly he had been sent. It was plain that 
upon the pending negotiations war or peace between the 
two republics depended. Meanwhile it was known that 
Mexico was marshalling her forces for a conflict. 



"■» 



The unsettled question in relation to the boundary of 
Oregon now engaged the attention of the President and 
his Secretary of State. Great Britain was from the first 
desirous to arrange the ditHculty, though, as has been 
stated, the subject was passed over in the negotiations of 
the Washington treaty. 

A few months after the ratification of that treaty, Mr. 
Henry S. Fox, the British minister at Washington, ad- 
dressed a note to Daniel Webster, Secretary of State 
under Mr. Tyler, in which note he proposed to take up 
the subject of the Oregon boundary. The proposal was 
accepted, but for some reason negotiations were not com- 
menced. Two years later, Sir Richard Packenham, then 
British minister at Washington, renewed the proposition 

' President's Message, Dec. 1845. 



1842 
Nov. 



G96 HISTOKX OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAi'. to Mr. Upshur, Secretary of State. It was accepted, bnt 

. a few days after Upshur lost liis life by the lamentable 

isw. explosion on board the Princeton. Six months later 

■ Paclcenham again brought the matter to the notice of 

Mr. Calhoun, then Secretary of State. The proposition 

was promptly accepted, and the next day named for 

taking up the subject. 

The claims of the respective parties may be briefly 
noticed. The region known as Oregon lay between the par- 
allels of forty-two and fifty-four degrees and forty minutes 
north latitude, the Kocky Mountains on the east, and the 

1819. Pacific Ocean on the west. By the Florida Treaty, Spain 
had ceded to the United States all her territory north of 
the parallel first mentioned ; commencing at the sources of 
the Arkansas and thence to the Pacific, and Mexico, hav- 
ing thrown olf the yoke of Spain, since confirmed by treaty 

1828. the validity of the same boundary. The parallel of fifty- 
four degrees forty minutes was agreed ujjon by the United 
States, Great Britain, and Russia, as the southern bound- 

1^1^' ary of the possessions of the latter power. 

The American claim was based upon the cession of 
Spain, who was really the first discoverer ; the discovery of 

1792. Captain Gray, already mentioned; the explorations of Lewis 
and Clai-ke, sent by the government of the United States ; 
and the settlement established at the mouth of the Colum- 
bia River, by John Jacob Astor of New York. Lewis and 

isoo' Clarke, during Jefferson's administration, crossed the 
Rocky Mountains, came upon the southern main branch 
of the Columbia, and explored that river to its mouth. 
The British claim was also based on discovery, and 

1806. actual settlement founded by the North-West Company, 
on Fraser's River, and also another on the head-waters of 
the north branch of the Columbia. 

1S44. Calhoun came directly to the point, and proposed as 

the boundary the continuation of the forty-ninth degree 



1811. 



THE OREGON BOUNDARY SETTLED. 697 

of nortli latitude to the Pacific. This line had already chap 

been agreed ujjon between the United States and Great 

Britain by the treaty made at London, as the boundary 1844. 
of their respective territories from the Lake of the Woods isis. 
to the summit of the Rocky Mountains. Packenham, 
imwilling to accept that line, jjroposed to follow the forty- 
ninth degree from the mountains — some three hundred 
miles — until it should strike the north branch of the Co- 
lumbia river, and thence down that stream to the ocean. 
The American Secretary declined this, and as the British 
minister had no further instructions, the consideration of 
the subject was postponed. 

Meantime the Presidential canvass was in progress, 
and " all of Oregon or none " became one of the watch- 
words of the Democratic parly. So long as these senti- 
ments were proclaimed by iJartisan leaders and newspapers, 
they were harmless ; but when the new President, in his 
inaugural address, asserted that our title to " Oregon Ter- 
litory " " was clear and indisputable," and moreover inti- 
mated that it was his intention to maintain it by arms, 
the question assumed a far different aspect. 

The position thus officially taken, when the subject 
of the boundary was under negotiation, took the British 
Government by surprise, especially since hitherto each 
party had courteously recognized the other's claim to a 
portion of the territory. Four months passed. Meantime 
the good feeling existing between the two governments 
was seriously disturbed ; England did not again offer to 
negotiate. A mere partisan watchword was in danger of 
involving both nations in war. At length the President 
himself, directed the Secretary of State to reopen nego- 
tiations by offering as the boundary the forty-ninth par- . 
allel ; but the proposition was not accepted by the British 
minister. 

To prepare the way for further negotiation, the Presi- 



698 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, dent then recommended that the joint occupation of the 

territory should be abrogated, by giving the twelve 

1844. months' notice, according to a provision in the treaties of 
1818 and 1828. Congress voted to give the notice. 

Sir Robert Peel expressed in Parliament his regret 
that the last offer of the American Secretary had not been 
accepted, and soon after the British minister, Packenham, 
communicated to the Secretary of State the information 
that his government would accept the parallel of forty- 
nine, as recently offered. 

The case admitted of no delay. The President was 
anxious to relieve himself of the responsibility of acting on 
the proposition. On the suggestion of Senator Benton, of 
Missouri, he, following the example of Washington, con- 
sulted the Senate on the propriety of accepting this last 
proposition, pledging himself to be guided by their decision. 
That body decided to accept it, " and gave the President 
a faithful support against himself, against his cabinet, and 
against his peculiar friends." 

Presently the treaty was sent into the Senate, when, 
after a spirited debate for two days, it was ratified.' By 
this treaty, the parallel of forty-nine degrees North lati- 
tude was agreed upon as the boundary to the middle of 
the channel between Vancouver's Island and the Con- 
tinent, and thence southerly through the middle of the 
Straits of Fuca to the ocean : — also the navigation of the 
Columbia River, and its main northern branch, was left 
free to both parties. 
1846. We left General Taylor at Corpus Christi, on the west 

bank of the Nueces. He now received orders from Wash- 
Feb. ington, to move to the Rio Grande, and establish a fortified 
camp and fort on the bank opposite the town of Mata- 
moras, as in the vicinity of that jdace Mexican troops 
were assembling in great numbers, with the intention, it 

' Benton's Tliirty Ye.irs' View, Vol. U. Chaps. 156-7-8-9, 



MEXICO THREATENS WAR THORNTON'S PARTY SURPRISED. 699 

way said, of invading Texas. Leaving the main portion ^^^^■ 

of his stores under a guard at Point Isabel, he marched to 

the Rio Grande, and, witiiin cannon shot of Matamoras, lo46. 
estabKshed a camp and built a fort. These movements 
called forth from Mexico strongprotests and threats of 
war. 

When the dispute between the two Republics began, 
Herrera was President of Mexico. He was desirous of 
arranging the difBculties by negotiation ; but the war 
spirit prevailed, and at a recent election the Mexican 
people chose for President, Paredes, an uncompromising 
enemy of peace. When he assumed office he sent a large 
force under General Ampudia, to whom he gave orders to 
drive the Americans beyond the Nueces. That officer 
soon after sent a communication to General Taylor, in 
which he warned him of his danger in thus provoking the 
anger of " the magnanimous Mexican nation," and de- 
manded that he should " break up his camp and retire 
beyond the Nueces " within twenty-four hours. Taylor 
replied that he should maintain his position, and carry 
out the instructions of his government, which alone was 
resjoonsible for his presence on the Rio Grande. He con- 
tinued to strengthen his fortification, and to closely watch 
the movements of the Mexicans. Ampudia was at a loss 
how to act ; both commanders were unwilling to light the 
flame of war. 

Paredes, dissatisfied with Ampudia, sent General Arista 
to supersede him. The latter immediately ordered de- 
tachments of Mexican soldiers to occupy positions between 
Point Isabel and the American camp, thus cutting off 
communication with their stores. 

General Taylor had sent Captain Thornton with a 
party of sixty dragoons to reconnoitre ; the party was 
surprised, sixteen of their number killed, the remainder 
captured. Thornton alone escaped. Here was shed the 
first blood in the Mexican war. 24. 



700 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

CHAP. ^ few days later. Captain Walker, the celebrated 

, Texan ranger, who with a select company was engaged 

181G. in keeping up the communication with Point Isabel, came 
into camp with information that a large force of Mexicans 
was threatening the latter place. Leaving Major Brown 
with three hundred men to defend the fort, Taylor hastened 
to the"aid of Point Isabel, which place, after a march of 
twenty-one miles, he reached without opposition. 

The Mexicans self-complacently attributed this move- 
ment to fear, and they immediately made preparations to 
attack the fort. Taylor had concerted with Major Brown 
that if the latter should be surrounded or hard pressed, 
he should, at certain intervals, fire heavy signal guns. 
}j[ay The Mexicans opened with a tremendous cannonade 

■^- from a battery at Matamoras, while a large force took 
position in the rear of the fort, and began to throw up in- 
trenchments. The little garrison defended themselves 
with great bravery, and not until Major Brown fell mor- 
tally wounded, did the next in command. Captain Haw- 
kins, begin to fire the signal guns. 

The cautious Taylor first put Point Isabel in a state 
of defence, and then set out with a provision train guarded 
by twa thousand two hundred and eighty-eight men to re- 
lieve Fort Brown — thus afterward named in honor of its 
commander. The little army was truly in peril ; an 
overwhelming force of the enemy — three to its one — ^had 
taken a strong position to intercept its march. The 
booming of signal guns still continued, and Taylor ar- 
dently pressed on with the determination to cut his way 
through. Presently he came in sight of the enemy, posted 
^rav ill front of a chaparral — in which were their reserves — • 
^- near a small stream, the Palo Alto. The train was im- 
mediately closed up, and the soldiers refreshed themselves 
from the stream, and fiUed their canteens. As soon aa 
the exact position of the Mexicans was ascertained, the 
American line was formed, Major Einggold's battery was 



I 



BATTLE OF PALO ALTO. 701 

placed on tLe right, and Duncan's on the left, while the "^■^J'- 

eighteen-pounders were in the centre on the main road. 

The Mexicans commenced the action with their artillery, I8i6 
but at too great distance to reach the American line. The 
latter moved slowly and silently up till within suitable 
range, then the artillery opened, and displayed great skill 
in the rapidity as well as in the accuracy with which each 
gun was handled. The eighteen-poimders riddled the 
Mexican centre through and through, while Duncan 
scarcely noticed their artillery, but poured an incessant 
stream of balls upon their infantry. Presently the long 
grass in front was set on fire, by the wadding from the 
guns, and the smoke obscured the position of the Mexicans. 
The American batteries groped their way for three-fourths 
of an hour throiigh the burning grass, and when the 
smoke cleared away, they found themselves within range 
of the enemy ; in another moment they opened their guns 
with renewed vigor. At this crisis night came on ; the 
contest had continued for five hours, and was a conflict of 
artillery alone. The only instance when an efl'ort was 
made to change the form of the battle, was when the 
Mexican cavalry endeavored to turn the American flank; 
but the infantry, with bayonets fixed stood firm and 
awaited the shock ; as the cavalry hesitated to make the 
onset, a discharge from the American artillery decided 
them to wheel and rapidly leave the field. 

Such was the first battle in the Mexican war ; a pre- 
sage of those which were to follow. The enemy lost four 
hundred men, while the Americans had only nine killed 
and forty-four wounded ; but among the former was Major 
Ringgold, universally lamented, both as an efficient 
officer and a Christian gentleman. As his officers ofi'ered 
him assistance, he said : " Leave me alone, you are wanted 
forward." To him was due much of the credit for that 
petfection of drill and rapidity of movement which the 
American Flying Artillery exhibited on battle-fields 



''^02 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP, during this war. The Mexicans manifested here no want 
of courage ; they stood for four or five hours under these 



1S46. murderous discharges of grape. 

The Americans encamped on the spot, and at three 
o'clock the next morning were on their march toward 
Fort Brown. Meantime the Mexicans, leaving: their dead 
unbuiied, had disappeared ; hut on the afternoon of that 
day they were discovered posted in a strong position be- 
yond a ravine, known as the Dry Kiver of Palms or Resaca 
de la Palma. They had been reinforced during the night, 
and now numbered seven thousand men. Their right 
and left were protected by dense brush and chaparral, 
while their artillery, jjlaced behind a breastwork and 
beyond the ravine, swept the road for some distance. 
Miy General Taylor j^laced his artillery on the road in the 

centre, and ordered divisions on the right and left to 
grope their way through the chaparral and ferret out with 
the bayonet the Mexican sharpshooters, who were swarm- 
ing in the brush which protected them. 

No order could be observed ; the officers became 
separated from the men ; each soldier acted for himself, 
as he broke his way through the chaparral and probed for 
the Mexicans. The sharp twang of the rifle, the dull 
sound of the musket, the deep mutterings of the cannon, 
the shrill cries of the Mexicans, so in contrast with the 
vigorous shouts of the Americans, produced a tremendous 
uproar. The right and left had gradually forced their 
way through the chaparral almost to the ravine, but the 
Mexican battery, handled with great coolness and execu- 
tion, still swept the road at every discharge, and held the 
centre in check. That batterj', the key of the Mexican 
position, must be taken. General Taylor turned to 
Captain May, of the dragoons, and pointing to the battery, 
said : " You must take it." The captain wheeled hia 
horse and shouted to his troops, " Men, we must take that 



BATTLE OF EESACA DE LA PALMA. 703 

battery!" Just then Lieutenant Kidgely suggested to cH|P- 

May to wait until he would draw the Mexican fire. The 

moment a portion of their guns were fired, the bugle was 1846. 
heard high above the din, to sound a charge. The atten- 
tion of the combatants was arrested, all eyes were turned 
toward the road, along which dashed the horsemen, led 
by their gallant leader. A cloud of dust soon liid them 
from view ; a discharge of the Mexican guns swept away 
one-third of their numb r, but in a moment more, the 
clashing sabres and the trampling' of men under tlie horses' 
feet, proclaimed that the battery was taken. The Mexi- 
can cannoneers were paralyzed at the sudden appearance 
of the approaching foe, and before they could recover, the 
dragoons were upon them. May, with his own hands, 
captured General La Vega, the commander, who was in 
the act of applying a match to a gun. The dragoons 
then charged directly through the Mexican centre. 

A shout of triumi)h arose from the American lines, the 
infantry pressed on and took possession of the guns, from 
which the dragoons liad driven the men. The entire 
Mexican force, panic-stricken at the sudden onset, broke and 
fled in confusion to the nearest point of the Eio Grande ; 
in their haste to pass over which, numbers of them were 
drowned. 

It was a complete victory. General Arista fled, and 
without a companion, leaving his private papers, as well 
as his public correspondence. All the Mexican artillery, 
two thousand stand of arms, and six hundred mules, fell 
into the hands of the Americans. The latter lost one 
hundred and twenty-two, and the Mexicans twelve hun- 
dred. 

We may well imagine the emotions with which the 
little garrison, exiiausted by the exertions of six days' in- 
cessant bombardment, listened to the sound of the battle, 
as it drew nearer and nearer ; first was heard the cannon, 
then the musketry ; then the smoke could be seen floating 



704 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

'^^Ai' above the distant trees ; now Mexicans here and there 

appeared in full flight ; presently the victorious American 

184(i. cavalry came in sight, and the men mounted the ramparts 
and shouted a welcome. 

General Taylor advanced to Fort Brown, then in a 
few days crossed the Rio Grande, and took possession of 
■^jj^^. Matamoras. The Mexicans had withdrawn the previous 
is' evening and were in full march toward Monterey. The 
American commander took pains not to change or inter- 
fere with the municipal laws of the town ; the people 
enjoyed their civil and religious privileges. They were 
paid good prices for provisions, which they furnished in 
abundance ; yet there was evidently in their hearts a 
deep-toned feeling of hatred toward the invaders. 

Meanwhile intelligence of the capture of Captain 
Thornton's reconnoitring party had reached the United 
States, and the rumor that Mexican soldiers, in over- 
powering numbers, were between the Nueces and the Rio 
Grande. 

The President immediately sent a special message to 
Congress, in which he announced that " war existed by 
Mav the act of Mexico ; " Imt surely it was an " act " of self- 
defence on the part of the Mexicans, and made so by the 
advance of an American army upon disputed soil, that had 
been in their possession and that of their fathers' fiithers. 

The President called upon Congress to recognize the 
war, to appropriate the necessary funds to carry it on, and 
to authorize him to call iipon the country for volunteers. 
Congress, anxious to rescue the army from danger, ap- 
propriated ten millions of dollars, and empowered the 
President to accept the services of fifty thousand volun- 
teers ; one-half of whom to be mustered into the army, 
and the other half kejit as a reserve. War was not for- 
mally declared, yet the war spirit aroused was unprece- 
dented. Throughout the land publ-'c meetings were held, 



11. 



PtAN OF OPEBATIONS — MEXICO DECLARES WAR. 



705 



and iu a few weeks two hundred thousand volunteers had •^'^|^- 



oflered their services to rescue the gallant little army 
from its p'jrils, and, if necessary, to prosecute the war. 1846. 
Notwithstanding these warlike indications, great diversity 
of ojiinion prevailed among the people, both as to the 
justness of the war, or the expediency of appealing to 
that terrible arbiter, when all the results demanded might 
be obtair^ed by negotiation. 

On the suggestions of Major-General Scott, a plan of 
operations, remarkably comprehensive in its outlines, was 
resolved upon by the government. A powerful fleet was 
to sail round Cape Horn, and to attack the Mexican ports 
on the Pacific coast in concert with a force, styled the 
" Army of the West," which was to assemble at Fort 
Leavenworth, on the Missouri, then to cross the great 
plains and the Kocky Mountains, and in its progress re- 
duce the northern provinces of Mexico. Another force, 
" The Army of the Centre," was to penetrate to the heart 
of the Republic by way of Texas, and if deemed best, co- 
operate with the force under Taylor, known, as we have 
said, as the " Army of Occupation." The latter part of 
the plan was afterward modified, and the country was 
penetrated by way of Vera Cruz. 

The apprehensions of the people for the safety of their 
little army, gave way to a feeling of exultation, when the 
news reached them that it had met and repelled its 
numerous assailants. The war spirit was not diminished 
but rather increased by this success. Congress manifested 
its gratification by conferring upon Taylor the commission 
of Major-General by brevet. 30. 

On the other hand the Mexican people and govern- 
ment were aroused, and on the intelligence of these dis- 
asters, war was formally declared against the United May 
States, and the government commenced to prepare for the ^^■ 
contest. 

4.') 



706 HIST0E1 OF THE AMEEICAIT PEOPLE. 

*^H^P- General John E. Wool, a native of New York, who 

had seen service in the war of 1812, and distinguished 

1846. himself at Queenstown Heights, was commissioned to 
drill the volunteers. By the most untiring diligence he 
had, in the short space of six weeks, iasi^ected and taken 
into the service twelve thousand men, nine thousand oi 
whom were hurried off to reinforce General Taylor, while 
the remainder marched under his own command to San 
Antonio, in Texas, there to he in readiness to act accord- 
ing to circumstances. 

General Taylor remained three months at Matamoras, 

his operations restricted for want of men, hut as soon as 

reinforcements reached him, lie prepared to advance into 

the country, in accordance with orders received from 

Washington. He sent in advance General William J. 

Worth, witli the first division toward Monterey, the 

caj ital city of New Leon. Worth took his first lessons 

in warfare in 1812. From love of military life, when a 

mere youth he enlisted as a common soldier, but his ready 

talents attracted the attention of Colonel, now General 

Scott, and from that day his promotion began. A fort- 

Aug. night later, leaving General Twiggs in command at Mata- 

^^- moras,' Taylor himself moved with the main division, — 

more than six thousand men, — and the entire army en- 

^9^*" camped within three miles of the doomed city. 

Monterey was an old city built by the Spaniards nearly 
three centuries ago. In a fertile valley, hedged in by 
high mountains, it could be approached only in two direc- 
tions ; from the north-east toward Matamoras, and from 
the west by a road, which passed through a rocky gorge, 
toward Saltillo. The city, nearly two miles in length by 
one in breadth, had three large plazas or squares ; the 
houses, built in the old Spanish style, were one story 
high, with strong walls of masonry rising three or four 



'o 



MONTEREY AND ITS FORTIFICATIONS. '707 

feet above their flat roofs. The city itself was fortified by chap. 

. , LI. 

massive walls, and on its ramparts were forty-two pieces 

of heavy artillery, while from the mountain tops, north of 1846. 
the town, the Americans could see that the flat roofs of 
the stone houses were converted into places of defence, 
and bristled with musketry, and that the streets were 
rendered impassable by numerous barricades. On the one 
side, on a hill, stood the Bishop's Palace, a massive stone 
building, strongly fortified, on the other were redoubts 
well manned, in the rear was the river San Juan, south 
of which towered abrupt mountains. 8uch was the ap-. 
pearance and strength of Monterey, garrisoned as it was 
by ten thousand troops, nearly all regulars, under the 
command of General Ampudia. It was now to be assailed 
by an army of less than seven thousand men. 

Ten days elapsed before the vicinity of the town 
could be thoroughly reconnoitred. In the afternoon, 
General Worth was ordered, with six hundred and fifty Jg ' 
men, to find his way around the hill occupied by the 
Bishop's Palace, gain the Saltillo road, and carry the 
works in that direction, while a diversion would be made 
against the centre and left of the town, by batteries 
erected during the night. The impetuous Worth, by great 
exertions, accomplished his purpose, by opening a new road 
over the mountains. In one instance he came to a small 
stream in a deep gully, the bridge over which had been 
broken down. A neighboring field furnished the material ; 
his men soon filled the chasm, and passed over on a corn- 
stalk-bridge. • 

The next morning the batteries erected the night be- 
fore opened upon the enemy, who replied with a hearty 
good will. At length, after hard fighting, one of the Mexi- 
can works of great strength, situated in the lower part of 
the town, was captured. The brigade under General Sept. 
Quitman, of the Mississippi Volunteers, " carried the work 



708 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

CHAP in handsome style, as well as the strong building in its 

rear." General Butler had also entered the town on the 

1846. right ; hoth of these positions were maintained. 

While these operations were in progress, General 
Worth succeeded in gaining the Saltillo road, and thus 
cut off the enemy's communication with the west. He 
carried, in succession, the heights south of the river and 
road, and immediately turned the guns upon the Bishop's 
Palace. 

During the night, the Mexicans evacuated their works 
in the lower town ; but the next day they kept up a vig- 
orous fire from the Citadel. The following morning at 
dawn of day, in the midst of a fog and drizzling rain, 
Worth stormed the crest overlooking the Bishop's Palace, 

Sept. and at noon, the Palace itself fell into the hands of the 
23 . 

Americans. Yet the city, with its fortified houses, was 

far from being taken. " Our troops advanced from house 
to house, and from square to square, until they reached a 
street but one square in the rear of the principal plaza, 
in and near which the enemy's force was mostly concen- 
trated."' The Americans obtained the plaza, then forced 
the houses on either side, and, by means of crowbars, tore 
down the walls, ascended to the roofs, then drew up one 
or two field-pieces, and drove the enemy from point to point 
till the city capitulated. 

The carnage was terrible. The shouts of the com- 
batants, mingled with the wail of suffering women and 
children, presented a scene so heart-rending that even the 
demon of war might be supposed to turn from it in horror. 

The Mexicans had effectually barricaded their streets, 
but these were almost undisturbed, while the invaders 
burrowed from house to house. The conflict continued 
for almost four days, in which the Mexicans fought 
desperately from \jehind their barricades on the house- 

' Gen. Taylor's Report. 



CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES. 709 

tops, where they did not hesitate to meet the invaders of chap 
their hearthstones hand to hand. . . 

The following morning Ampudia surrendered the town 1846. 
and garrison. The Mexican soldiers were permitted to 24.' 
march out with the honors of war. 

General Taylor was assured that those in authority 
at the city of Mexico were desirous of peace. In conse- 
quence of these representations, and also of his want of 
provisions, he agreed to a cessation of hostilities for eight 
weeks, if his government should sanction the measure. 

He now left General Worth in command of the city, 
and retired with the main force of tlie army to Walnut 
Springs, about three miles distant, and there encamped. 



CHAPTER LIT. 

POLK'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED. 

The President hopes for Peace. — Santa Anna. — Hostilities to be renewed.— 
Troops witlidrawn from General Taylor. — Letter from General Scott.^ 
Volunteers arrive at Monterey. — Despatches intercepted. — Santa 
Anna's Plans and Preparations. — Taylor advances to Agua Nueva. — 
Battle of Buena Vista. — Its Consequences. 

^HAP. Those in power at WasLington had hoped, indeed, it was 

.^ confidently predicted, that the war would be ended within 

1840. "ninety" or " one hundred and twenty days " from its 
comuaencement, and a peace concluded, that "should give 
indemnity for the past and security for the future." These 
desirable ends were to be attained by treaty, through the 
means of that incomparable patriot, Santa Anna, then 
an exile in Havana, who promised, for a certain consideia- 
tion, if restored to authority in Mexico, to exert his influ- 
ence in favor of peace. A secret messenger from Wash- 
ington had made to the " illustrious exile " overtures to 
this effect, about the time that General Taylor was or- 
dered to the Rio Grande ; the special act which led to hos- 
tilities.' 

In his next annual message the President gives .some 
Dec. information on this subject. " Santa Anna," said that docu- 
ment, " had expressed his regret that he had subverted 
the Federal Constitution of his country," and " that he 

■ Benton's " Thirty Years' View," Vol. ii. pp. 561 and 681-2. 



• SANTA ANNA AND HIS PROFESSIONS. 71 1 

was now in favor of its restoration." He was also opposed ^^fV' 

to a monarchy, or "European interference in the aflixirs . 

of his country." The President cherished the hope that 1846. 
the exiled chief would " see the ruinous consequences to 
Mexico of a war with the United States, and that it would 
be his interest to favor peace ; " and further the Message 
said, that Paredes, then President of Mexico, was " a sol- 
dier by profession, and a monarchist in principle ; " the 
sworn enemy of the United States, and urgent to prosecute 
the war. Santa Anna, on the contrary, was in fevor of 
peace, and only wanted a few millions of dollars to bring 
about that object so dear to his patriotism ; hence the 
hopes that the war would be brought to a close in three or 
four months. It v\ as with this expectation that the Presi- 
dent, in a special message, asked of Congress an appropria- -^"?' 
tion of two millions of dollars " in order to restore peace, 
and to advance a portion of the consideration money, for 
any cession of territory " which Mexico might make. It 
was also in accordance with this arrangement, that, on the 
very day Congress, at his suggestion, recognized the " ex- Mny 
istence of the war," he issued an order to Commodore 
Connor, who was in command of the fleet in the Gulf, to 
permit Santa Anna and his suite to return to Mexico, 
The latt(ir availed himself of this passport to land at Aug. 
Vera Cruz. ^• 

President Polk had been duped. Santa Anna never 
intended to fulfil his promise, except so far as to forward 
his own selfish ends. Instead of endeavoring to conciliate 
the hostile countries and obtain peace, he devoted all 
his energies to arouse the war spirit of his countrymen ; 
called upon them to rally under his banner and save their 
nationality ; issued flaming manifestos expressing the 
most intense hatred of the people of the United States, 
and his righteous indignation at the wrongs imposed on 
his country by the " perfidious Yankees." 



712 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE, 

^Vyj" His extravagant professions of patriotism were not 

without effect ; his countrymen deposed Paredes, and 

I8i6. elected him President. Though they had been unfortu- 
nate in the field, their spirits revived, and in a few months 
he had an army of twenty, thousand men concentrated at 
San Luis Potosi. 



Dec. 



Meanwhile General Wool had marched from San 
Sept. Antonio. His indefatigable labors had converted the vol- 
unteers under his care into weU-drilled soldiers. Part of 
their way was through a region but thinly inhabited and 
without roads, and across a desert in wliich they suiiered 
mucli tor water. A laborious march of six weeks brought 
him to Monclova, seventy miles from Monterey — here he 
learned of the capture of the latter place. It was now 
arranged that he shoidd take position in a fertile dis- 
trict in the pro\'ince of Durango, that would enable him 
to obtain supplies for his own men, and the army under 
General Taylor. The inhabitants cheerfully furnished 
pro\isions, for which they were paid promj)tly, and in 
truth received more favor than they had recently ex- 
perienced at the hands of their own rulers, as General 
Wool kept his men under strict discipline and scrupulously 
protected the persons and property of the Mexicans. 

The cessation of hostilities, by orders from Washing- 
ton, ceased on the 13th of November. Two days later 
Nov. General Worth took possession of Saltillo, the capital of 
"■ Coahuila, and General Taylor himself, leaving a garrison 
in Monterey under General Butler, marched toward the 
coast in order to attack Tampico, but as that place had 
Dec. already surrendered to Commodore Connor, he took pos- 
2^- session of Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas. 

The United States government now prepared to in- 
vade Mexico by way of Vera Cruz. Just as General 
Taylor was ready to commence active operations, Gen- 
eral Scott was about to sail for that place with the 



TROOPS WITHDRAWN FROM TATLOE'S AEMT. 713 

intention of capturing it, and then, if peace could not be ^^j*"- 
obtained, to march upon the city of Mexico itself. 



To carry out the plan of operations, it was necessary 1846. 
to increase the force under General Scott's immediate 
control. Troops in sufficient numbers could not be drawn 
from the United States, and a portion of Taylor's army 
was ordered to join him bef jre Vera Cruz. He thus in a 
private letter expresses his generous sympathies with the 
latter : " My dear General," says he, " I shall be obliged 
to take from you most of the gallant officers and men 
whom you have so long and so nobly commanded. I am 
afraid that I shall, by imperious necessity — the approach 
of the yellow fever oh the Gulf coast — reduce yon, for a 
time, to remain on the defensive. This will be infinitely 
painful to you, and, for that reason, distressing to me. 
But I rely upon your patriotism to submit to the tempo- 
rary sacrifice with cheerfulness. No man can better afford 
to do so. Kecent victories place you on that high emi- 
nence." 

General Taylor, though deeply disappointed, at once 
complied with the orders of the government, and detached 
Generals Worth and Quitman with their divisions and the 
greater part of the volunteers brought by General Wool : 
•in truth, the flower of his army. These troops were speedily 
on their march from SaltiUo toward the Gulf coast. Thus 
Taylor was left with a very small force. During the month 
of January, and a part of February, reinforcements of 1847 
volunteers arrived from the United States, increasing his 
army to about six thousand; but after garrisoning Monte- 
rey and Saltillo, he had only four thousand seven hundred 
effective men, of whom only six hundred were regulars. 

General Scott sent Lieutenant Eichey and a guard 
of men with a despatch to General Taylor. The Lieu- 
tenant imprudently left his men, went near a Mexican 
village, was lassoed, dragged from his horse and murdered, 



714 HISTORY OF THE AiTEKICAN PEOPLE. 

% 

CHAP, and Lis despatches sent to Santa Anna. From tliese tLe 

Mexican chief learned the plan for invading his country, 

1847. He promptly decided upon his course of action — a ju- 
dicious one. Trusting that the strength of Vera Cruz, 
and of the Castle San Juan d'Ulloa, would long resist the 
enemy, and even if they both should he captured, that the 
fortified places along the road would still retard the ad- 
vance of the Americans upon the capital, he deter- 
mined to direct all his force against Taylor, who was now 
weakened h'y the loss of thg greater part of his army. 

Santa Anna's difficulties were almost insurmountable. 
The city of Mexico was in confusion, torn by factions. He 
took most extraordinary and illegal measures to enlist 
men and obtain the means for their sapport; raised money 
by forced loans ; made the church property contribute its 
share of the public expense ; the Priests protested and 
appealed to the superstitions of the people ; he immediately 
seized one of their number, the most factious, and threw 
him into prison, and the rest were intimidated. Thus, 
for nearly four months, he exercised an arbitrary, energetic, 
and iron rule. With a well-organized army of twenty- 
j,^„ three thousand men, and twenty pieces of artillery, he com- 
26. menced his march for San Luis Potosi in the direction of 
Saltillo, and within sixty miles south of that place he 
halted and prepared for battle. 

Rumors reached General Wool that Santa Anna was 
approaching Saltillo. Major Borland was sent with thirty 
dragoons to reconnoitre ; he was joined on his way by 
Major Gaines and Captain Cassius M. Clay, with another 
company of thirty-five men. No enemy appeared, and 
they pushed on during the day, and carelessly encamped 
for the night, but, in the morning, found themselves 
surrounded by one thousand horsemen under the Mexican 
General Minon. They were taken prisoners, and Santa 
Anna sent them, as the first fruits of the campaign, to be 
pariidcd through the streets of the city of Mexico. 



TAYLOR AT SALTILLO — M'CULLOCK'S ADVENTURE. 7l5 

General Taylor now advanced from Monterey, and ckap. 

established his head-quarters at Saltillo. Leaving there ^ 

his stores, he made a rapid march to Agua Nueva, eighteen 1847 
mUes in advance, on the road to San Luis Potosi, thus to 
secure the southern extremity of the detile through the 
Sierra Nevada, rather than the northern one at Monterey. Feb. 
At the former point the Mexicans must fight or starve, be- 
cause of the barrenness of the country in their rear ; while, 
had he remained at Monterey, Santa Anna could have had 
his head-quarters at Saltillo, and drawn his supplies from 
that comparatively fertile district. 

Scouts reported that General Minon with a large body 
of cavalry was to the left of Agua Nueva, and that the 
American position could be turned. Companies of dra- 
goons from time to time were sent in different directions 
to reconnoitre. They at length learned from a " Mexican, 
dressed as a peon," that Santa Anna had arrived in the 
neighborhood with twenty thousand men, and that he in- 
tended to attack the Americans the next morning. 

The clouds of dust toward the east, and the signal 
fires that blazed upon the tops of the distant hills, seemed 
to confirm the report. But that daring Texan ranger, 
Major McCulloch, was not satisfied ; and, accompanied by 
some dozen vohmteers, he determined to .ascertain the 
truth of the " peon's " story. They pushed on across a 
desert of thirty-six miles to Encarnacion, where they ar- 
rived at midnight, and found the enemy in force. Send- 
ing back all his men, save one, McCulloch entered their 
lines, and, undetected, went from point to point, obtained 
more correct information of their numbers, then passed 
out, and escaped to Agua Nueva. 

On the reception of this intelligence, Taylor, leaving 
a small guard as an outpost, retired up the valley in 
expectation that Santa Anna in hot haste would pursue 
him, while he himself sliould await his approach at a 
point, which, in passing, he had already noticed. The con- 
jecture was correct. 



716 



HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 



^hu^' ^^^ta Anna knew well the position of the Americans. 

^ He thought they wonld not retreat, and he resolved to 

1847. surprise them. But between him and Agua Neuva there 
intervened fifty miles, the last thirty-six of which were 
across a desert. His soldiers were each supplied with 
water and provisions ; in the morning the march com- 
menced, and at noon they entered the desert ; in the 
night they halted for a while to refresh, and at dawn they 
were to attack the unsuspecting foe. The march was 
rapid and secret ; the silence of the desert was not dis- 
turbed — not a signal was used, not a drum beat. After 
so much toil he was sadly disappointed ; his enemy bad 
disappeared. He firmly believed the Americans were in 
full fliglit, in order to avoid a battle. Some days before 
he had sent General Minon with his cavalry across the 
mountains, to their rear, and he now hoped that Minon 
would be able to hold the fugitives iu check until he 
himself could come up with his full force. He halted only 
to refresh his wearied soldiers, and then pursued with all 
his vigor. 



'b^ 



The ground chosen by General Taylor on which to 
make a stand, was the pass — since so famous — known 
among the Mexicans as Las Angosturas, or the Narrows. 
It was at the north end of a valley, about twelve miles 
long, and formed by mountains on either side. Here an 
ascent rises to a plateau, a little more than a mile wide, 
on each side of which rugged mountains, inaccessible to 
artillery or cavalry, rise from two to three thousand feet. 
Numerous ravines or deep gullies, formed by the torrents 
rushiug from the mountains during the rainy season, 
rendered the surface in front and on the sides very un- 
even. Neither flank could be turned except by light troops 
clambering up the mountains. The plateau was some- 
what rough, with here and there open and smooth places, 
as well as clumps of thorny chaparral. The road through 



22. 



CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AMERICANS. 717 

the defile passes much nearer to the west than to the ^JJj'^^- 

east side of the Narrows. On this plateau, one mile , 

south of the hacienda or plantation known as Buena Vista, 1847 
the American army awaited the approach of the Mexicans. 

Early the following morning clouds of dust, extending 
far down the valley to the south, made known that the 
Mexican army was near and in motion. Soon after, its 
cavalry came in sight and halted for the infantiy and 
artillery to come up. 

The long roll of the drum called the Americans to 
arms ; they obeyed the call with hearty cheers. It was 
the anniversary of the birth of Washington, and on the Feb. 
imjiulse his name was adopted as their watchword. They 
were placed under peculiar circumstances. A few months 
before, they were quietly engaged in the avocations of 
civil life ; enthusiasm had induced them to volunteer, and 
now they were on foreign soil, tar from their homes. 
With the exception of a few hundreds, they were all for 
the first time going into battle, with the prospect that to 
them defeat would be certain ruin ; they were about to 
meet an army, in its numbers nearly five to one of their 
own. In the unequal contest, their only hope was in 
their own bravery, and in the skill of their commander. 

The cautious Taylor had gone to Saltillo, six miles 
distant, to superintend in person the defences designed to 
secure the stores from capture. General Wool was left 
in temporary command at the Narrows, and he directed 
the arrangements of the troops. 

Captain Washington's battery was placed to command 
the road or pass, the key to the position of the army. 
Colonel Hardin's First Illinois regiment was on a ridge to 
the left of the pass, and Colonel McKee's Second Ken- 
tucky on another ridge in their rear. To the left beyond 
these was posted the Second lUinois, under Colonel Bis- 
sell, while still further in the same direction, under the 
mountain, were stationed Colonels Yell and Humphrey 



718 HISTORY OF THE AMEBIC Alf PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Marshall, with the Arkansas and Kentucky volunteers 

LII. ' . . . •' 

. The remainder of the army, including Lane's Indiana 

1S4-7. brigade ; the Mississippi riflemen, Colonel Jeffeison 

Davis ; two squadrons of dragoons, and Sherman and 

Bragg's batteries of flying artillery, were placed in reserve 

on the rear of the plateau. 

During the morning, and beyond the range of the 
American artillery, the main body of the Mexicans was 
also arranged in order of battle. Their right, a battery 
ot sixteen-pounders, rested on the base of the mountains. 
These guns were manned by the San Patricio regiment, 
composed of Irish and German deserters from the Ameri- 
can army. Two divisions, Pacheco's and Lombardini's, 
extended in the rear of this battery ; guns, twelve and 
eight-pounders, were posted to the left, and a battalion 
occupied a hill in advance of the main line, directly op- 
Ijosite the pass. Their cavalry was stationed in the rear 
of either flank, and to be unencumbered, the baggage of 
the whole army was left many miles iu the rear. 

About .noon a Mexican officer brought a note to 
General Taylor. In pompous terms Santa Anna sum- 
moned him to surrender at discietion, and trust himself 
to be treated "with the consideration belonging to the 
Mexican character." In a brief and courteous note the 
American commander declined the proposal. 

Santa Anna noticed that the mountains to the east, 
beyond the American left, were unguarded, and he sent 
General Ampudia, with light troops, around a spur to 
ascend them from the south side. The movement was 
observed, and Colonel Marshall dismounted his own rifle- 
men and those of the Indiana battalion, and commenced 
to ascend to the crest of the ridge. As the lines gradually 
approached each other, skirmishing began. The Mexicans 
kept up a continuous roar of musketry, while the Ameri- 



BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA — SKIRMISHING. 719 

cans lay among the rocks, whence could be heard the '?;\^- 
sharp crack of their rifles. 

The Mexican batteries occasionally threw a shot, but lS+7 
the Americans on the plateau remained silent ; they 
wished a closer conflict. They were not idle, however, 
but threw up temporary works to protect Washington's 
battery in front, and also to the right of the pass close up 
to the base of the mountain. Thus passed the afternoon, 
with only severe skirmishing on the mountain sides. 
When night came on the Americans were recalled to the 
plain. The Mexicans remained in position, and the night 
passed without any important demonstration on either 
side. 

General Minon had passed through the defile, Palo- 
mas Adentro, and in the afternoon appeared with his 
numerous cavalry upon the plains north of Saltillo. Here 
Santa Anna sent him orders to remain, and be in readi- 
ness to fall upon the American forces, which he promised 
to either capture or put to flight the next morning. 

The appearance of Minon caused no little anxiety, and 
General Taylor, after night-fall, hastened to Saltillo with 
aid, to assure himself that any attack upon the stores 
would be repelled. 

During the night Ampudia was reinforced ; and at 
dawn he renewed the attack, and stretched his line farther 
to the right ; but Colonel Marshall, with a portion of the 
Illinois volunteers, maintained his position, though pressed F^b. 
by superior numbers. 

Soon after sunrise, movements in the Mexican ranks 
indicated that a~ grand attack was in contemplation. 
Their strength was nearly all thrown toward the Ameri- 
can left, where, owing to the smallness of their number 
and the extent of the ground, the troops were placed at 
greater intervals. The San Patricio battery was also 
brought forward and placed on the ridge in front of the 



720 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN^ PEOPLE. 

CHAP, plateau, while three powerful columns of attack were 

. arranged — columns composed of the best soldiers of the 

18t7. army, and led by its most experienced leaders. As the 
foremost column advanced, General Lane ordered Captain 
O'Brien to hold them in check with his guns, and the 
Second Indiana regiment to support him. O'Brien's shot 
ploughed through their ranks from front to rear, yet the 
Mexicans crowded on till the head of the column was 
literally broken, and thrown into confusion, and refused 
to advance. Lane now ordered O'Brien to move forward 
fifty yards nearer the enemy. The Indiana regiment fol- 
lowed, but came within range of a Mexican battery, which 
• opened upon tlieir flank. They were ordered to retreat 
from the face of such overpowering numbers ; the retreat 
unfortunately soon became a flight, which extended quite 
beyond the enemy's guns. Now upon O'Brien's artillery 
was concentrated the entire fire of the Mexican battery 
and Pacheco's column. His horses were soon disabled ; 
not a man of his company but was either killed or wound- 
ed ; he was forced to fall back and leave to the enemy one 
of his guns as a trophy — a trophy which they seemed to 
appreciate very highly. 

These forces now advanced and formed a juncture with 
the division of Lombardini ; the entire body then moved 
against the plateau, and opened a heavy fire upon the 
Second Illinois regiment under Colonel Bissell. Four 
companies of Arkansas volunteers had been directed to 
dismount and gain the plateau. They reached it in the 
midst of this conflict, b^it they soon became panic-stricken 
and fled. The Illinoians, now unsupported, slowly fell 
back. While this was in progress, a portion of the Ken- 
tuckians were forced back, and Ampudia, with his light 
troops, came down the mountain and completely turned 
the American left. , The third heavy column, under Mora 
y Villamil, pressed on against Washington's battery on the 
road. He waited till thev came within close range, then 



BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA — WHOLE COMPANIES RETREAT. 721 

poured in his shot with surprising rapidity and terrible ^?^^ 

effect ; the head of the cohimn melted away before the . 

storm, the whole mass was thrown into confusion, swaj-ed 1847. 
from side to side, then broke and fled, leaving the plain 
covered with a multitude of slain and wounded. 

Just as the three columns of the enemy had failed to 
force the American centre on the plateau. General Taylor, 
accompanied by fresh troops, arrived ujion the field ; his 
presence was needed. He brought with him every avail- 
able man that could be spared from Saltillo. They were 
Colonel May's dragoons, a portion of the Mississippi rifle- 
men, and of the Arkansas cavalry. 

The natural advantages of the position had been lost ; 
success depended alone, upon the bravery of the troops ; 
many of the officers had fallen, and whole companies of 
the volunteers, both infantry and horse, had left the field, 
and were in disastrous retreat toward Buena Vista, in 
spite of the efforts of General Wool and Colonel Davis, 
and other officers to restrain them. 

The Mexican infantry, supported by their fine cavalry, 
right and left, which made shock after shock, continued 
to press on. By great exertions Davis rallied the majority 
of his regiment, and a part of the Second Indiana ; they 
advanced at a quick step, but silent until within rifle 
shot ; then gave the approaching foe a destructive fire. 
The Mexicans did not slacken their pace till they came 
almost to the edge of the last ravine between them and 
their enemy, when they .halted. The Americans came up 
to the opposite edge ; thus for a while the two forces con- 
fronted each other and fired across the ravine. Presently 
a shout along the American line rose high and clear above 
the din ; they delivered their fire, dashed into the ravine, 
lingered a moment to reload, then rose Upon the opposite 
crest, in the face of the enemy, and with defiant shouts 
urged home their fire more fearfully than ever. The 
46 



722 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Mexicans, apparently astounded at the apparition which 

was sending death through their ranks', wavered for a few 

1847. minutes, and then in utter confusion rolled back upon the 
column which was advancing to their support. 

Scarcely was Colonel Davis free from this when he 
was assailed by a force coming in another direction. A 
thousand lancers who had not been engaged approached 
along the broad ridge ; they were well supported by in- 
fantiy. To meet this new enemy Davis, was aided by the 
Second and Third Indiana regiments. He extended his 
line across the ridge, stationed Captain Sherman on his 
left, and placed his men in the form of the letter V, the 
opening toward the approaching lancers. They com- 
menced to advance at a gallop as if to charge their way 
through the centre. But as they drew near they gradually 
slackened their pace ; they expected the Americans would 
fire, and then they would ride them down before they 
could reload their pieces. The latter fired not a gun, but 
awaited their approach. At length the lancers came to a 
walk at the opening of the angle. The silence seemed to 
fill them with awe ; they were within eighty yards of a 
thousand marksmen, every one of whom could take de- 
liberate aim. At the word, every musket and rifle was 
poised — a moment intervened — then went forth the mes- 
sengers of death. The entire front ranks of the lancers 
were riddled, not a ball appeared to have failed of Its 
errand. This was followed by grape and cannister from 
Sherman's battery. The dead and wounded men and 
horses made a barricade of struggling life, over which they 
could not pass. Even at this time, their overpowering 
numbers, had it not been for this obstruction, might have 
enabled them to break through the line and gain the road 
in the rear of the plateau, and thus have modified or 
changed the fortlme of the day. But those in the rear 
were appalled at the destruction of their companions, and 
the whole mass fled headlong from the field. As in every 



BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA TORREJON'S REPULSE. 723 

other instance the Americans, for want of numbers and *^^^- 

cavalry, could not pursue them, and the fugitives passed . 

south of the plateau to be re-formed for another attack. 1847. 

Meantime a squadron of cavalry under Torrejon skirted 
the mountain base to the left, and penetrated to Buena 
Vista, whither the commands of Marshall and Yell had 
retired. General Taylor sei!t all the cavalry he could 
spare, under Colonel May, to reinforce that point. Tor- 
rejon fell back on his approach, and May returned to the 
plateau. Then Torrejon advanced again : this time the 
volunteers received him with a scattering fire ; but the 
Mexicans, confident in numbers, rode on rapidly toward the 
hacienda; there they were held in check by a portion of 
the two battalions. It was here that Colonel Yell, as he 
made a charge, was killed at the head of his men. Tor- 
rejon himself was wounded, and Colonel May made his 
appearance again, this time with two field-pieces, and the 
Mexicans sejjarated into two divisions and retreated out 
of danger. 

On the plateau the battle had raged in one continuous 
cannonade ; the Mexicans had on the ridge in front, a 
battery of eighteen and twenty-four pounders, principally 
manned by the San Patricio regiment, yet they could not 
silence the American guns. At this point there was a 
temporary lull in the storm. 

But on the east side of the valley, to the rear of the 
plateau, a severe conflict was in progress. One of the 
Mexican divisions retreating from Buena Vista, had united 
with a large force sent by Santa Anna to make its way on 
the extreme left round to the American rear. 

Colonel May with his dragoons and a portion of the 
Ulinoians and Indianians was engaged in the unequal con- 
test. Greneral Taylor sent to his aid apportion of the ar- 
tillery and the dragoons, with some of the volunteer 
cavalry. 



724 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAS TEOPLE. 

CHAP. Ther scH>n acctMnplisheil the object by cntting otf (he 

retreat of the Mexicans who had j^assed so far Ivyond the 

1S4T. Americsin left. They were driven ag-ainst the Ivise of the 
mountain and throvrn into inextricable confiision. Bmgg 
advanced within close canister range, and with their 
wiinted rapidity his guns played upon them : the shot 
tore and crashed through the bewildered multitude, and 
those next the mount;iin efldeavore^ to escape by dam- 
l>ering up its sides. The whole torce, alwut five thousimd, 
l>ecame utterly helpless, while the wotmded and dying 
were incK-asing at a fearful rate : the horses frantic with 
pain and terror added to the confiision. A few minutes 
more and they must have laid down their arms ; at this 
crisis, as if to stay the arm of death, a white flag was 
seen approaching from Greneral Taylor's position. When 
it came near the artillery ceased to fire. 

Three Me:xican officers had appeared as if for a parley; 
they prefessed to bear a message from the Mexican chief. 
When brought into the pre^^ence of General Taylor they 
wished TO know " what he wanted." The reply was the 
surrender of the Mexican army. They asked time for 
consideration : the trick was not suspected, and the re- 
quest was granted. A messenger bearing a white- flag 
was hastened with orders to Captain Bragg to cease firing, 
as the Mexicans were about to lay down their arms. 

General Wool was deputed to accompany the officers 
to Santa Anna, who took care not to be seen. As Wool 
pereeived that the Mexicans- continued to fire, though the 
Americans had ceased, he declared the conference at an 
end. and returned to his own army. 

Meanwhile, under the protection of the flag of peace, 
the body of Mexicans in trouble stealthily crept along the 
base of the mountain out of danger, and joined their main 
army south of the plateau. Thus, whether designed or 
not. Santa Aima had extricated his soldiers, and had also 
learned irom his spies — the Mexican officers — the smali 



BATTLE or BWaSA TUBTA — IHB lASf AfTACK. 725 

aamber ot American tnOps — ody ttoee legiments of itt- ™^ 

faDtry and three gims — on tbe platean, aod that tbdr 

main portion was fer to the left, vhither thejr had diiren W*T. 
the Mexican ri^t wing. Sbiddiog Ids men from s^it 
bf ravines and spars of die monntan, he had §or boon 
been concentrating all his stren^h &r a final agwnh 
open the American central poeitioo at tbe pan. At . 
tereral points he had met with partial sncces ; but ia 
the main his jJans had been frastrated br the inddod- 
table courage, rapid movements, and hud figfatiii^ of Us ^ 
opponents^ 

Having concentrated his ixeea, he oov htoa^at bis le- 
aenre mto action, aided by the tioops ei the right ytiag 
which had just been lescned from periL Tbe whole ^jrce — 
twelre thousand strong — tbe ftoat regimosts oompoeed of 
reterans, with General Perez at their bead, raoTed up the 
ascent from tbe ralley. The scattered coa^anies (Illi- 
nois and Kentnckr Tolonteers) in adrance of the Ene were 
taken by garx>Tise at the sadden appe^aaoe of the enemj 
in each nombers ; tbe enemy, winch an boor or two be- 
fore they had seen in utter coufoaoo, letreatiDg fiom tbe 
field. The mnltitode, pouring in ToQey after roliey a£ 
musketry, pressed on and compelled these companies to 
retirt; toward the lines. O'Brien was left almost alone 
with his artillery, yet £ar a time he maintained his fbee. 
Hii shot buried themselves in tbe ranks of tbe apjwoacfa- 
ing enemy ; but the mass closed up the gape and steadily 
came nearer and nearer. For nnmd shot be sobstitnted 
canister, and they were checked &t a time ; bat it was thdr 
last stm^Ie to secure tbe fidd. Trusting to uombea 
and heedlees of death, the mass again mored on. Pres- 
ently there was not an in&ntry sddier to saj^mrt the 
guns, nor a horse to draw them; still tbe gunners stood to 
their places, and retreated only as their jHeces reccikd. 
At length overtaken, every officer or gunner either killed 



726 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, or wounded, O'Brien himself anfong the latter, they ahan- 

doned them to the enemy. . 

1847. Meanwhile the companies of volunteers took reftxge in 

a deep ravine to the right of the pass. The Mexicans 
lined its crest and kept upon them a continuous volley of 
musketry, to which they could scarcely reply, while their 
^ cavalry dashed forward to the mouth of the ravine to cut 
off their retreat. Fortunately the route of the cavalry 
brought them within range of Washington's battery at 
the pass. His guns were immediately brought to bear 
upon them ; they recoiled, relinquished their object, and 
began to retreat, while, by throwing shot over the heada 
of the volunteers who were now moving out, lie harassed 
them exceedingly. The Mexican infantiy, now unop- 
posed, descended into the ravine, and cruelly murdered 
every wounded man they could find. 

■ It was in this desperate encounter that Colonels 
Hardin, McKee, and Henry Clay, junior, (son of the dis- 
tinguished statesman,) and great numbers of brave and 
generous men were slain. 

The crisis of the conflict was near. O'Brien overcome 
there was no one to oppose ; and,' encouraged by their suc- 
cess, the Mexicans pushed on with unusual vigor. At 
the commencement of this last attack the Americans were 
more or less scattered over the plateau and on the ex- 
tremes of the field ; but the heavy roar of the battle made 
known that the issue of the day was about to be deter- 
mined, and they hastened, of their own accord, to the post 
of danger. 

It was an hour of intense anxiety to General Taylor, 
as he saw this unexpected host advance in such order and 
with such determination. The battle had already lasted 
eight hours ; the toil ol" so many rapid movements ovei 
the rough field had wearied his men, while the approach- 
ing enemy's force was fresh, and in number four to one 



THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA THE RESULT 727 

of his own. Was it possible to hold them in check tUl chap 

his own troops could come up ? He sent messenger after 

messenger to urge them on. In one direction could be 1847. 
seen Bragg, and in another Sherman, driving with whip 
and spur the jaded horses attached to their batteries ; 
while in.the distance to the left of the pass, could be seen 
the Mississippians and Indianians, under their officers 
Davis and Lane, rapidly advancing, now in sight and now 
disappearing as they crossed the deep ravines. 

Bragg was the first to come up. As he drew near he sent 
to ask for infantry to support his guns ; but Taylor could 
only send" him word that not a man could be had ; he 
must fight to the death. The Mexicans were rushing on, 
and before he could unlimber his guns they were within a 
few yards of their muzzles ; but his men seemed to be in- 
spired with an energy beyond human, and with a rapidity 
greater than ever, discharge followed discharge. The 
enemy faltered, as if waiting for them to cease but for a 
moment, that they might rush forward and capture them. 
No such moment was granted ; they still hesitated, and 
were thrown into confusion. By this time Sherman came 
up and opened with his wonted effect ; in a few minutes 
more Washington's battery at the pass moved forward 
and did the same. Davis and Lane had just closed with 
the enemy's right flank and commenced to pour in their 
fire. The Mexicans recoiled on all sides ; they could not 
carry the pass ; hope seemed to desert every breast, and 
pell-mell they rushed from the field. 

Thus ended the battle of Buena Vista. It had lasted 
tea hours ; had been a series of enco.unters, in different 
parts of the field, each one severe in itself, but indecisive 
in result. Never before had an American army contend- 
ed with such odds, and under disadvantages, so great. It 
was won by the superior handling of the flying artillery, 
which thinned and broke the foremost ranks of the enemy 
before they could bring their superior numbers to bear. 



728 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 



I'liAi'. When repulsed, they invariably fell back out of danger, to 

. . be again re-formed for another attack, while the Ameri- 

184T. cans, for want of cavalry and sufficient numbers, could 
not pursue and disperse them beyond the power of rally- 
ing. On the part of the latter the day was one of un- 
remitting toil ; their fewness of numbers, the extent of 
the field, the roughness of the ground, and the numerous 
attacks, forced them to be continually in rapid and 
laborious motion. Greneral Taylor was in the midst of 
flying balls for eight hours, only one of which passed 
through his coat. He was ably seconded by his officers, not 
one of whom swerved from a post of danger nor neglected a 
duty — especially could this be said of General Wool, who 
seemed to be at every point where he was specially needed. 
The superior skill with which the American guns were 
handled was due to the exertions of the West Point 
officers, who spared no effort to infuse into the ranks their 
own spirit of discipline ; and equal honor is due to the 
volunteers, who, with but few exceptions, cheerfully sub- 
mitted to the requisite drudgeiy of drill. 

The Mexicans hoped to win the battle by musketry 
and charges of cavalry ; their heavy guns they did not 
bring upon the field, but placed them in battery in front 
of the pass. 

The influence of this battle was more important thati 
any one of the war. It destroyed that fictitious prestige 
which Santa Anna had obtained over his countrymen by 
his vain boastings and unsparing censure of their pre- 
nous commanders, and it greatly increased their dread 
of the invader's artillery ; henceforth they met them only 
from behind defences, and avoided them in the open field. 

JSlight closed in. The Americans took every precau- 
tion to repel the attack which was expected the next 
morning. Strong pickets were posted to prevent the 
enemy from passing round to the right or left. The troops 



I 



SANTA akna's betreat. 729 

having been supplied with their rations, remained on the ^Vy^' 

field for the nighl. Fresh companies were brought from . 

the rear to supply the place of those who took charge of 1847. 
the wounded, who were carried in wagons to Saltillo. 
The loss of the day had been two hundred and sixty-seven 
killed, and four hundred and fifty-six wounded. Feb. 

The morning dawned, but not a Mexican could be 
seen. Santa Anna had retreated, leaving his wounded to 
their fate, and his dead unburied. More than two thou- 
sand of his men, including many officers of high rank, lay 
scattered over the field. 

Scouts hurried on to reconnoitre ; in an hour or two 
they returned with information that he was far on his way 
toward Agua Nueva. General Taylor and his staff im- 
mediately moved on in the same direction, but sent in. 
advance Major Bliss, with a proposition to Santa Anna 
for an exchange of prisoners, and a request that he would 
send for his wounded, as well as another assurance that 
the American government was desirous of peace. An ex- 
change of prisoners took place, but as Santa Anna pro- 
fessed to have no means to remove his wounded, he left 
them to be cared for by the Americans ; as to the propo- 
sition for peace he replied, in his usual style of bravado, 
that he should prosecute the war until the invaders had 
left his country. 

The Mexican soldiers were in a truly deplorable con- 
dition ; they were without hospital supplies, and almost 
literally without food, and no means to obtain it — a desert 
before them, and a victorious enemy in their rear. Santa 
Anna urged on his retreat toward San Luis Potosi, 
' whence one month before he had set out sure of victory ; 
desertions had now reduced his great army to a mere 
remnant, and that discouraged by defeat, while confidence 
in his generalship was gone. In addition, signs of another 
revolution were appearing in the city of Mexico, by which 
his enemies might triumph. 



730 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP. General Taylor advanced to Agua Nueva ; thence twc 

. days later he detached Colonel Belknap, with the dra- 

1847. goons and a regiment of infantry — transported in wagons 
2^ ' across the desert — to surprise the rear guard of the Mexi- 
can army at Encarnacion. The feat was successfully ac- 
complished. All along the way from the battle-field were 
found multitudes of poor Mexican soldiers, left by their 
heartless companions to die of their wounds, hunger,'and 
fatigue. As soon as possible the humane Taylor sent 
them provisions, and had those that could be removed 
conveyed to SaltiUo and placed under the care of the 
American surgeons. 

While these operations were in progress, the two 
Mexican generals, Urrea and Romero, with their corps of 
.cavalry, had appeared on the line of communication be- 
tween Saltillo and the Rio Grande. They had captured 
some wagons, taken some prisoners, and spread alarm all 
along the line. A sufficient force was now sent to chastise 
them, but they rapidly retreated out of danger by the 
pass of Tula, leaving the vaUey of the Rio Grande to the 
Americans. 

General Taylor, by easy stages, retraced his steps, 
and encamped once more at the Walnut Springs, near 
30. Monterey. 

Whilst the line of communication was broken, vague 
rumors reached the United States, first, that Santa Anna 
was approaching Monterey with a large army, then, that 
the American army had been overpowered. These ap- 
prehensions were greatly increased by a volunteer Colonel 
at Camargo, who, in his alarm, sent an urgent apjjcal for 
fifty thousand men to be sent immediately to tlie seat of 
war. Presently came intelligence of the battle of Buena 
Vista ; and the intense anxiety of the people was 
•changed to admiration for the men who, under such try- 
ing circumstanceSj had maintained the honor of their 



GENERAL TATLOr's RECEPTieN. 731 

country. Gren. Taylor, of whom so little had been known chap 

before the commencement of this war, rose higher and 

higher in public estimation. Some months later, when 1847. 
he returned to the United States, he was received with 
demonstrations of the highest respect. 



CHAPTER LIII, 

POLK'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED. 

Emigration to Oregon. — John C. Fremont ; his Explorations ; his diffi- 
culties with the Mexican Governor. — American Settlers in alarm. — 
California free from Mexican Rule. — Monterey on the Pacific captured. 
— Commodores Sloat and Stockton. — Kearney's Expedition. — Santa 
Fu taken ; a Government organized. — Doniphan's Expedition. — Various 
Conflicts. — Chihuahua occupied. — An Insurrection ; its Suppression. — 
Trial of Fremont. 

^fm' '^^^ importance of securing Oregon by settlement had 

especially attracted the attention of the people of the 

1812. Western States. The stories of hunters, and the glowing 
descriptions given in the newspapers of that distant region, 
imbued the minds of the adventurous with an enthusiasm 
as ardent as that which glowed in the breasts of the earlier 
explorers and settlers of this country two and a half 
centuries before. A thousand emigrants, consisting of 
men, their wives and children, driving before them their 
flocks and herds, their only weapon the trusty rifle — alike 
to protect from savage violence and to procure sustenance 
from the wandering droves of buffalo and deer — set out 
from the confines of Missouri. They passed up the lon^ 
eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, over them through 
the South Pass, thence to Lewis' River and down it to the 
Columbia, on whose shores they found a resting place, 
after a toilsome journey of six months, through an un- 
trodden mountainous region. 

These emigrants were followed the next year by 



COLONY 0» THE COLUMBIA — FREMONT. 733 



another company, consisting of two thousand, who passed ^?^F 

over the same route. 

These enterprising settlers, with the few who had pre- 1S43. 
ceded them, labored under many difficulties, as the United 
States government did not exercise the jurisdiction which 
it claimed over the territory. A bill introduced into the 
(Senate, granted lands to actual settlers, and made pro- 
vision to maintain their rights as citizens by extending 
over them the laws of the territory of Iowa. Though this 
bill passed only the Senate, it gave encouragement to 
those persons who desired to emigrate to the banks of the 
Columbia. A colony thus planted by private enterprise, 
and thus slightly encouraged by the government, became 
the germ of another State, (Oregon) now added to the 1859. 
Union. 

It was in connection with this awakened spirit of 
emigration that Colonel John C. Fremont, then a lieu- 
tenant, made his first exploring expedition. He was a 
young man, once friendless and unknown, but had risen 
by his own talents and industry, and on the recommenda- 
tion of Poinsett, then Secretary of War, had been ap- 
pointed in the Topographical Engineers by President Jack- 
son. Fremont solicited and obtained permission from the 
government to explore the Rocky Mountains and their 
passes, but at this time with special reference to the 
South Pass and its vicinity. In six months he returned ; 
he had accurately determined the location of that Pass, 
which now became a fixed point in the path of emigration 
to Oregon. 

Soon after his return, Fremont again asked for orders 
to prosecute still further explorations in that distant 
region. They were given ; but after his preparations 
were made, and he and his party had reached the frontiers 
of Missouri, the government countermanded his orders, on 



734 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS PEOPLE. 

CHAP, the singular plea that he had armed his party, in addition 

. to their rifles, with a small mountain howitzer. But for- 

1843. tunately for science and the country, the letter containing 
the order came to Mrs. Fremont, whom he had requested 
to examine his letters and forward only those he ought to 
receive. She deemed the government countermand one 
that he ought not to receive, and Fremont knew nothing 
of its existence until he returned from his eventful tour. 
On his return he was received with honor, his conduct ap- 
proved, and on the recommendation of the Secretary of 
War, William Wilkins, the hrevet of captain was con- 
ferred upon him by President Tyler. 

He had received special orders to survey the route of 
travel from the frontiers of Missouri to the tide-waters 
of the Columbia. This was accomplished by the first of 
November, after six months' labor, though often he diverged 
from the main route to make useful observations. He now 
resolved to return immediately, and when on the way to ex- 
plore the vast territory which must lie between the route 
he had passed over and the Pacific. To pass through this 
region in midwinter was no easy matter. Soon deep 
snows appeared on the highlands, and the party descended 
into the valley, now known as the G-reat Basin, out of 
which flows no stream. On the west, the mountains 
loomed up with their snowy tops ; every thing was strange ; 
the Indians, terrified at the approach of white men, fled : 
a desert appeared, and with it the vision of starvation 
and death. No place could they find, as they had hoped, 
where they might winter and derive their sustenance from 
hunting tjie animals of the forest. They passed down to 
the latitude of San Francisco, as found by astronomical 
observations ; but between them and that place, the 
nearest point where they could obtain aid from civilized 
man, rose mountains, their snowy tops piercing the clouds ; 
their sides frowning precipices thousands of feet high. No 
Indian would act as a guide through their passes. The 



THE RESULTS OF THE EXPLORATION. 735 

whole party, by excessive toil and want of food, were re- *'^^j^- 

duce^ to skeletons, both men and horses. Finally they 

" cra.wled over the Sierra Nevada," and arrived at the 1843. 
head-waters of the Sacramento. " In this eventful ex- 
ploration, all the great features of the western slope of 
our continent were brought to light — the Great Salt Lake, 
the Utah Lake, the Little Salt Lake — at all which places, 
then desert, the Mormons now are ; the Sierra Nevada, 
then solitary in the snow, now crowded with Americans, 
digging gold from its banks ; the beautiful valleys of the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin, then alive with wild horses, 
elk, deer, and wild fowls, now smiling with American 
cultivation. The Great Basin itself, and its contents ; 
the Three Parks ; the approximation of the great rivers 
which, rising together in the central region of the Kocky 
Mountains, go off east and west towards the rising and 
the setting sun, — all these, and other strange features of 
a new region, more Asiatic than American, were brought 
to light, and revealed to public view in the results of this 
exploration." ' 

In May, Fremont set out on his third expedition to 1846. 
explore still further the Great West. There were now 
indications that war would soon result between Mexico 
and the United States. But to avoid exciting the sus- 
picions of the Mexicans, he obtained permission from 
General De Castro, commandant at Monterey on the 
Pacific, to pass the following winter in the uninhabitable 
portion of the vaUey of the San Joaquin. But before 
long, De Castro professed to believe that his object was 
not scientific exploration, but to excite a rebelUon among 
the American settlers, and he undertook to either drive 
him out of the country or capture the whole party. A 
messenger, secretly sent by the United States consul at 

Benton's Thirty Years' View, Vol. ii. Chap. 134. 



736 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

*jHAP. Monterey, Mr. Larlrin, suddenly appeared in his camp and 

. informed him of these unfriendly designs. Fremont im- 

lB4o. diately chose a strong position on a mountain, raised the 
American flag, and he and his sixty determined followers 
resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible. After 
waiting four days, as De Castro hesitated to attack his 
camp, he came down from the mountain and set out for 
Oregon through the region of the Tlamath lakes. 
1846. During the former part of May he was overtaken by a 

United States officer, Lieutenant Gillespie, who brought 
a letter of introduction from James Buchanan, Secretary 
<jf State, and verbal instructions to the effect that he 
should counteract any foreign scheme on California, and 
conciliate the good will of the inhabitants toward the 
United States. 

Fremont was now on the confines of Oregon, but at 
once he turned back to California. When he arrived in 
the valley of the Sacramento, he found the whole com- 
munity in a state of great excitement. Among the 
Mexicans two projects were in contemplation : one to 
massacre the American settlers ; the other to place Cali- 
fornia under British protection, and thus shield them- 
selves against the arms of the United States in case of a 
war with Mexico. 

A deputation from the American settlers hastened to 
lay before him a statement of these facts ; and, in addition, 
that the Indians had been incited against them ; that 
General De Castro was on his march to attack them, and 
also that a British fleet was daily expected upon the 
coast. 

Though the countries were at peace when he left home, 
the approach of De Castro with a hostile army demanded 
decisive measures, and Fremont accepted the trust in 
self-defence. The American settlers flocked to his camp, 
brought their horses, their ammunition, their provisions. 



COMMODORE SLOAT CAPTURES MONTEREY. 737 

and submitted cheerfully to the strictness of military dis- ^'Ji^F- 
cipline. . 

In one month's time, after a few conflicts, Mexican 1846. 
rule was at an end in northern California. The flag of j 
independence was raised, its device a grizzly hear — indi- , . 
cative of indomitable courage — while General De Castro 4. 
was retreating, and all other schemes completely prostated. 

Commodore Sloat, commanding on the Pacific, received 
directions from the Secretary of the Navy, George Ban- 
croft, " If you ascertain with certainty," said the Sec- 
retary, " that Mexico has declared war against the United 
States, you will at once possess yourself of the port of San 
Francisco, and blockade or occupy such other ports as 
your force may permit." 

The commodore was at Mazatlan, and a British 
squadron, under Admiral Seymour, was there also. The 
former, from certain indications, suspected he was watched; 
if so, he determined to foil the admiral. Accordingly, he 
weighed anchor and sailed west as if going to the Sand- 
wich Islands, Seymour followed, but in the night Sloat 
tacked and ran up the coast to Monterey, while Seymour 
continued on to the islands. Sloat arrived at Monterey 
and offered the usual civilities to the town ; they were 
declined on a frivolous excuse. It was evident that his 
presence was not agreeable. Five days later he heard of 
the movements of Fremont and the settlers, and he at 
once took possession of the town. Then he sent a cou- 
rier to the latter, who hastened with his mounted men to j^] 
join the commodore. They were mutually astonished on 7. 
finding that neither of them had acted under direct or- 
ders from their own government. The flag of independ- 
ent California was now suj^planted by the colors of the 
United States. 

Commodore Stockton in a few days came into the har- 
bor, to whom Sloat turned over the command, as he himself July 
intended to return home. The next day came Admiral ^^ 
47 



fSS HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



S^h" ^'^y™^^"'" ill 'li^ flag-ship. He saw with surprise tlie 

American flag floating over the town, the American 

1S46. riflemen encamped near by, and an American fleet in the 
j»^' harhor. One month later Stockton and Fremont took 
possession of Los Angeles, the capital of Upper California. 
California had been for some time in a half revolu- 
tionary state. The inhabitants were dissatisfied with 
Mexican rule. Some wished to join the United Slates, 
and some to seek the protection of Great Britain. The 
conciUatory course pursued by Fremont did much in 
winning the Californians to the American standard. 

In the latter part of July the " Army of the "West," 
under Colonel Kearney, consisting of eighteen hundred 
men, was conceutrated near Bent's Fort on the Arkansas. 
The Secretary of War, William L. Marcy, had given him 
instructions to take possession of New Mexico and Upper 
California, to establish therein temporary' civil govern- 
ments, to make known to the inhabitants the designs of 
the United States to provide them with free government, 
and that they would be called upon to elect representa- 
tives to their own territorial Legislatures. 

The expedition moved rapidly toward Santa Fe, the 
capital of New Mexico. The population of that province 
was miscellaneous in its character ; Indians, New Mexi- 
cans, (a mixture of Spanish and Indian,) some American 
settlers, and a few of Spanish blood. The mass of the 
population was half-civilized, by whom honor and moral- 
ity were reckoned of little worth. They were cowardly, 
treacherous and cruel ; ignorant and superstitious. The 
Indians, for the most part, held the idolatrous notions of 
the ancient Aztecs, and were so debased that a slight 
reward would insure the committal of almost any crime. 

The governor, Armigo, a bad man and a bad ruler, 
made an eftort to meet the invaders. He assembled about 
four thousand men, of all grades, and, with six field-pieces, 



KEARSXT ETTTEEa SASTA FE. 739 

took position in a momitaiii gorge some fifteen miles in '^j*^- 

advance of Santa Fe ; but for some reason, best known to 

himself, Le abandoned his strong post and rapidly retreated 184«, 
southward, fiarrying off his own property, and leading the 
people and the public interests to take care of themaelves. 

Keamer entered Santa Fe and was conrteonslv received ■*"& 
by the lieutenant governor, VigiL The fcUowing day 
the people assembled in the plaza and had made known 
to them the designs of the United States government. 
The majority professed themselves pleased with the change. 
In a few days the chiefs of the Pueblo Indians also gave 
in their adhesion to the new order of things. 

Kearney erected and garrisoned a fort, and in the 
meanwhile made an esctirsion one hundred and fifty mflea 
to the si'juth to meet a force which a hise rumor said was 
marching against him. On his return he established a 
government, at the head of which he placed Charles Bent, 
a worthy citizen of the territory, as governor. After 
pledging himself to protect the inhabitants against the 
inroads of the Eutaw and S^avajoe Indians, he set out for 
California. His company consisted of only three him- 
dred drago<jns, but on the route, when near the river 
GOa, he met a messenger — the celebrated guide and pio- 
neer Kit Carson — who broosht intelligence of what had 
recently taken place in California under Stockton and 
Fremont. He now sent back two companies of dragoons 
under Major Sumner, and continued on himself with the 
remamder. 

Thus, within three months after the orders had been 
issned at Washington, a force had been organized ; a 
march of a thousand miles accomplished ; and territory 
subdued, and a, new government established on appa- 
rently a stable foimdation. A half-civilized and vicions 
popularion are not fit subjects for seK-govemment, and 
this in a short time proved a ^ilure. Had Kearney re- 
mained to preserve discipline, that result might have 



740 HISTOKT OF THE AMEKICAX PEOPLE. 

*^Liii' ^^^^ different, or at least delayed. The town was filled 

with gambling-houses, and grog-shops, and haunts of 

1846. every vice, while the free manners of the volunteers ex- 
cited against themselves the hatred of the inhabitants, 
who laid their plans for revenge, and only waited an op- 
portunity to carry them into effect. 

Colonel Kearney gave directions to Colonel Doniphan, 
whom he left at Santa Fe, to enter the country of the 
Navajoe Indians, li\'ing on the waters of the Gulf of 
Nov. California, and induce them to make peace. Doniphan, 
with a thousand Missouri volunteers, in three divisions 
and by as many routes, entered the territory of the hostile 
tribe, and obtained from them a treaty, by which they 
agreed to refrain from depredations upon the people of 
New Mexico. This march, so remarkable, was made in the 
winter, across mountains covered with snow, and through 
an unknown region inhabited by barbarous tribes. Doni- 
phan delayed but a short time in negotiating with the 
Indians, then he passed on to the south-east to meet Gen- 
eral Wool at Chihuahua. 

The absence of so many men with Donij)han afforded 
the looked-for opportunity to commence an insurrection 
in New Mexico. The plot was deep laid and kept a pro- 
^^^'^- found secret. Suddenly Governor Bent was murdered, 
14. with five other ofiicers of the territory, some of whom 
wfere Mexicans, at Taos, fifty miles north of Santa Fe. 
The same day witnessed the murder of many others in 
the upper valley of the Rio Grande. 

Colonel Price, of the Missomi mounted volunteers, was 
at Santa Fe with the main force, while detachments were 
scattered over the country grazing their horses on the 
plains. With only three hundred and fifty men. Price 
hastened to meet the insurgents, in the valley of Taos. 
23. They, numbering about fifteen hundred, took position in a 



DONIPHAN'S EXPEDITION. 741 

pass of tlie road tliroiigh the higlilands. Price routed *^,^,'^''- 

them and continued his marcli up the valley ; but the 

insurgents made a stand at another pass, still stronger by 1S47. 
nature, so narrow that three men could scarcely march 
abreast, while it was protected by rugged mountains 
covered with cedars growing in the crevices of the rocks. 
An advance party clambered up through the cedars, and 
the terrified Mexicans took to flight. 

Their principal place of defence was taken in a few 
days, and the rebellion suppressed. Peace was promised 
only on the condition that the ringleaders should be given 
up ; this was complied with, and several of them were 
hanged at San Fernando : a hard fate for those who 
were fighting against the invaders of their country. 

Colonel Doniphan, accompanied by a large number of 
merchant wagons, crossed without loss a region destitute 
of water or grass — a desert ninety miles in extent, known 
as the Jornada del Mxierto, or Journey of Death — ^the 
road marked by the graves of former travellers and the 
bones of beasts of burden. In one instance his men and 
animals nearly gave out from thirst, when providentially 
a rain relieved them ; a remarkable occurrence in itself, 
as at that season of the year rain seldom falls in that 
region. 

He learned that the Mexicans, under General Her- 
redia, who commanded in the North-western Department, 
were awaiting his approach ; nothing daunted he dashed 
on. His force, including merchants, numbered but eight 
hundred and fifty-six efiective men, nearly all back- 
woodsmen ; all mounted, armed with rifles, and good 
marksmen ; untrammelled by discipline, each one fought 
as he listed. Near Brazito, in the valley of the Kio 
Grande, they dismounted and were scattered seeking 
wood and water, when the scouts brought word that the ■l^']' 
Mexicans were approaching. The alarm was sounded ; 26. 



742 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAK PEOPLE. 

CH^P- all flew to arms, and amid a din of shouts fell into ranks 
as best they could. The Mexicans — more than twelve 

1846. hundred strong, and with a piece of artillery — drew near ; 
an officer bearing a black flag made his appearance, and 
in a magniloquent speech, declaring that no quarter would 
be given, summoned the Missourians to surrender. Doni- 
phan's answer was characteristic and defiant. 

The Mexican cavalry extended far to the right and 
left, while the infantry, firing volleys of musketry, ad- 
vanced in front. Presently they came within rifle range, 
and the backwoodsmen threw away scarcely a shot. The 
whole body of the enemy broke and fled — they lost nearly 
two hundred men, killed and wounded, in a few minutes. 
Only seven Americans were wounded. 

Two days later Doniphan entered the beautiful vil- 
lage of El Paso, " where a neat cultivation, a comfort- 
able people, fields, orchards, and vineyards, and a 
hospitable reception, offered the rest and refreshment 
which toils, and dangers, and victorj' had won." There 

1847. he waited till artillery could join him from Santa Fe, and 
^^^- then commenced his march upon Chihuahua. 

The Mexicans kept out of the way ; but after a march 
of nineteen days it was ascertained that they had taken 
position at a pass of the Sacramento, a small branch of 
the Eio Grande. Here General Herredia made a stand 
with a force of four thousand men, protected by intrench- 
ments across the pass, and on the neighboring hills, but 
defences were of little avail against men who never 
hesitated to attack an enemy. Doniphan suddenly 
diverted his route from the main road, forced his way 
round to the flank of their advance, and before the Mexi- 
cans could bring their guns to bear, he was in full play 
upon them with his own artillery. Their cavalry as well 
as artillery, fell back and retired across the river. Now 
the intrenchments were to be forced ; this was done in 
true backwoods style. Each man rushed on and fought 



DONIPHAN TAKES POSSESSION OF CHIHUAHUA. 743 

on his own responsibility ; some rode along the entrench- ^^^^ 

ments seeking a place to enter, while others dismounted 

and crept up to pick off their defenders. The Mexicans 18^7. 
lied from the presence of their assailants, who leaped over ^g' 
the works and secured every place within reach. Mean- 
while a party of mounted volunteers crossed the river to 
storm, on horseback, a battery which crowned the hill on 
the opposite side. This singular engagement cost the 
Mexicans three hundred killed and a greater number 
wounded, while the Missourians lost but one killed, one 
mortally wounded, and a few disabled. The enemy, com- 
pletely routed, abandoned every thing ; the ofiScers fled 
toward the south, and the common soldiers to the moun- 
tains. 

The following day Doniphan, without opposition, 
entered Chihuahua — a city of nearly thirty thousand in- 
habitants — raised the American flag on its citadel, and, in 
the name of his government, took possession of the pro- Mar. 
vince. He was in a very perilous situation, with only a 
thousand men, from among whom almost every vestige 
of discipline had vanished. In this city were many 
American merchants, most of whom were wealthy. 
Doniphan's measures were ^^rudent and just, and they 
conciliated the inhabitants. 

On the 27th of April he set out for Saltillo, where he April, 
arrived in a month without opposition, except from a few 
Indians. From Saltillo he marched to Matamoras ; and 
as the term of his men was about to expire, they were 
taken to New Orleans and there discharged. 

The most remarkable expedition on record. They had 
jjassed over nearly five thousand miles, three thousand of 
which was a march, through an unknown and hostUe 
country swarming with foes. They returned in one year ; 
no body of troops had ever in so short a time passed over 
so much space or surmounted so many obstacles. 

Fremont was the military commandant of California, 



744 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAX PEOPLE. 

*'TiiF" ^^^^^^^ ^ commission from Commodore Stockton. Soon 
after the Commodore sailed from San Francisco to Mon- 

184:7. terey, and thence to San Diego. The recently estaUished 

^ "S- government was placed in peril ; a deep laid plot was in 
train, and only a favorable opportunity was wanting to 
commence the insurrection. Fremont, by a rapid and 
secret march of one hundred and fifty miles, surprised 
and captured the main leader of the insurgents, Don J. 
Pico, who had been a prisoner, and had violated his 
parole. A court martial sentenced him to death. Fre- 
mont remitted the sentence, and thus won Pico's influence 
and aid in tranquihzing the country. He also endeavored 
to conciliate the inhabitants, and made no attack upon 
the hostile parties, which hovered around his march. He 
came up with the main Mexican force, under Don An- 
dreas Pico, brother of the one who n he had just pardoned. 
He sent them a summons to surrender, and they agreed 
to deliver up their artillery and promised to return to 
their homes. They were not required to take the oath of 
allegiance, until a treaty of peace should be concluded 
between the United States and Mexico. 

Dec. Commodore Stockton now learned of the approach of 

General Kearney. The latter had experienced great 
difficulties on his march ; attacked by the enemy, he was 
placed in desperate circumstances at San Pasqual ; his 
provisions gone, his horses dead, his mules disabled, and 
most of his men sick, while the enemy in great numbers 
completely surrounded his camp and held possession of all 
the roads. Three brave men — Kit Carson, Lieutenant 
Beales, of the Navy, and an Indian — volunteered to find 
their way to San Diego, thirty miles distant, and inform 
Commodore Stockton of Kearney's peril. The Commo- 
dore promptly sent assistance, at whose appearance the 
enemy retired and Kearney was enabled to reach San 

Jan- I'^'iego. 
8. A mouth later took place the battle at the river San 



INSUKRECTION QUELLED. 745 

Gabriel. Then General Flores, cliief of the insurgents, cbm>. 

sent a flag of truce, proposing a cessation of hostilities in . 

California, and to let the sovereignty of the territory be 1848. 
determined by the result of the war between the United 
States and Mexico. Stockton refused to accede to the 
request, and continued his march. Another flag of truce 
came in. Now it was offered to surrender the town of 
Los Angeles, if the rights of the people and their proj^erty 
should be preserved. On these conditions the capital of 
Upper California was surrendered a second time, and the 
possession of the country more firmly established than 
before tli^ insurrection. 

Difficulties now arose among the officers in relation to 
the question who should be governor. But recent orders 
from Washington relieved Stockton of his civil functions, Mar. 
which devolved upon General Kearney as he happened to 
be on the ground. In truth, the civil government was 
only in name beyond the range of the American cannon. 

Fremont, however, refused to recognize the authority 
of Kearney, and was brought to trial charged with diso- 
bedience of orders and mutiny. The court found him 
guilty and sentenced him to be dismissed from the ser- 
vice. The President did not approve of all the findings 
of the court ; but, because of " the peculiar circumstances 
of the case and his previous meritorious and valuable ser- 
vices," remitted the sentence and restored him to his rank 
in the armj'. Fremont would not accept the clemency 
of the President, and thus admit that the proceedings of 
the court were just ; he at once resigned his commission. 
In a few weeks he set out at his own expense on his fourth 
tour of exploration in the Rocky Mountains. 



CHAPTEE LIV. 

POLK'S ADMINISTRATION— CONCLUDED. 

Movement of Troops. — Vera Cruz invested. — Its Bombardment and Capitu- 
lation. — Santa Anna's Energy. — Battle of Cerro Gordo. — General Scott 
at Puebla. — His Misunderstandings with the Authorities at Washing- 
ton. — Commissioner Trist. — Dissensions in Mexico. — Scott's Manifesto. 
— Reinforcements. — Advance upon the Capital. — El Penon turned. — 
Battle of Contreras ; of Chcrubusco. — Attempts to obtain Peace. — ■ 
Conflict of Moliiio del Rev. — The Castle of Chapultepec captured. — The 
American Army enters the City. — Santa Anna ugain in the Field; dis- 
missed from the Mexican Service. — Treaty of Peace. — Its Conditions. — 
Evat.'uation of Mexico. — Misunderstanding among the American Officers. 
— Discovery of Gold in California. — The Effects. — Death of John 
Quincy Adams. — The Wilmot Proviso. — The Presidential Election. 

CHAi;. ....While these events were in progress, plans were formed 

J_ '_ and partially executed to invade Mexico from the east ; 

184G. to secure Vera Cruz, the best harbor on the coaat, and 
then, if peace could not be obtained, to march upon the 
capital itself. 

Numerous delays impeded operations, and it was near 
the end of November before General Scott left Washing- 
ton for the seat of war. The quarter-master, General 
Jessuji, was already at New Orleans preparing transports 
for the troops ; and communications were held with Com- 
modore Connor in relation to the co-operation of the fleet. 
The troops, as already mentioned, drawn from Taylor's 
command, were speedily concentrated at convenient points 
on the coast, but the want of transports prevented their 
embarkation. The place of rendezvous was at the island 






J^/Ult:.^ /r^z 



y^zyu-i:^^'^-^oO 



vskWaw fVW.^JXauX: 



o-u. 




c^^^'^^^^^^^^^^^^"^ 





fA^^^^M^^— 




VERA CRUZ INVESTED. 747 

of Lobos, about one hundred and twenty-five miles north ™a'' 

of Vera Cruz. At length the transports were ready, the 

troojjs, about twelve thousand strong, embarked, and, on 1847. 
the morning of the 9 th of March, began to land near 
Vera Cruz. No enemy appeared to dispute the move- 
ment. 

That city contained about fifteen thousand inhabitants. 
It was protected on its land side by numerous defences, 
while on the side of the Gulf, upon a reef, stood the 
Castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, garrisoned by a thousand 
men, who manned one hundred and twenty-eight heavy 
guns ; the strongest fortification on the continent, with 
the exception of Quebec. 

The next morning General Worth was ordered to com- 
mence the line of investment, which extended nearly six 
miles. The Mexicans appeared to oppose, but a few 
shots from the cannon dispersed them. The weather was 
excessively hot and sultry, and the march through the 
deep sand laborious and tedious. 

The Governor of the State of Vera Cruz now issued a 
proclamation, calling upion the inhabitants of the town to 
defend themselves, while he should retire to harass the 
invaders and "cut off their suppKes. He soon appeared 
among the sand hills, but after a sh^^rt skirmish, he 
thought it prudent to keep out of sight. The cannonad- 
ing from the town and castle was incessant, but without 
much execution, owing to the distance. The men kept 
close in their trenches and did not reply. The munitions 
which had recently arrived were now landed, and the 
Americans were ready to commence the bombardment. 
General Scott summoned the city to surrender, stipulating, 
in order to save the lives and property of the inhabitants, 
that no batteries should be placed iif the town to attack 
the Castle, unless the latter fired upon the Americans. 
General Morales, the commander of both the city and 
castle refused to comply with the summons. 



748 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

'uv^ At 4 o'clock in the afternoon the bombardment com- 

racnced. The Mexicans replied with every gun and 

1847. mortar that could be brought to bear from the city and 
22/ castle. Some of the smaller American vessels crept near 
and with their heavy guns added to the uproar ; thus 
through the night the contest lasted. Other guns were 
brought, and other batteries erected within a thousand 
yards of the devoted city. They were hidden behind the 
chaparral ; this was cleared away, and revealed to the 
besieged a new foe — the battery of Paixhan guns. Their 
astonishment was great ; upon this new enemy who had 
dared to take position so near, they resolutely directed all 
their force for many hours. They fired rajjidly and with 
precision, but failed to silence this battery. 

How terrific was this storm ! Twenty-one heavy 
guns pouring forth an incessant stream of balls and shells ; 
the heavy shot broke through the solid walls and crashed 
through the houses, while the shells, still more terrible, 
scattered ruin and death in the streets, and burned every 
building that would burn. With scarcely any intermis- 
sion, for four days this horrid work continued. The in- 
habitants, to be out of range, left their homes, and help- 
lessly crowded upon the mole at the north part of the 
town, but ere long the balls began to come nearer and 
nearer. For twelve days the town had been invested, and 
its provisions were now nearly exhausted. The foreign 
residents implored their consuls to aid them. The latter 
obtained permission of Morales to send a flag of truce to 
General Scott. They asked a cessation of hostilities till 
the foreigners, with their families, and the Mexican 
women and children could leave the place. The request 
was properly refused, on the ground that permission had 
once been offered the foreign residents to leave the town, 
and that the petition to receive attention must come 
from the Mexican governor. 

The American batteries re-opened as soon as the flag 



VEKA CRUZ CAPITULATES MARCH ON JALAPA. 749 

Ptitcred the city, and contimied during the night. At *^^^,^''- 

break of day another flag was seen approaching. The , 

firing ceased. Negotiations commenced, and were ter- 1847. 
minated by the siirreuder of Vera Cruz, the Castle, the 
armaments and stores of each, and the soldiers as prison- 
ers of war. These terms were agreed to by General Scott 
and Commodore Perry, who was in command of the" 
squadron. The soldiers were to march out, with the 
honors of war, lay down their arms and be dismissed on Mnr, 
their parole. The inhabitants were guaranteed in their 
civil and religious rights. 



'o' 



General Worth was appointed governor of Vera Cruz. -^P""'' 
The advance division, under General Twiggs, soon com- 
menced the march for the city of Mexico by way of Jalapa. 
The whole army amounted to only eight thousand five 
hundred men, but there preceded them an influence, that 
threw a shadow of despondency over the minds of the 
Mexicans. 

Santa Anna had been very active since his defeat at 
Buena Vista, (which he labored hard to prove to his 
countrymen was not a defeat at all ; he only retreated for 
want of provisions,) in collecting another armj^, and h? 
had already arrived with twelve thousand men at Cerro 
Gordo, a mountain pass at the eastern edge of the Cor- 
dilleras. In the midst of revolutions and distractions, he 
marched to this, the flrst of the " Thermopylass," which 
he promised his countrymen to defend. Within two 
months after a disastrous defeat, without money, without 
the prestige of success, he had quelled an insurrection and 
established his own power, raised an army, portions of 
which had marched from three hundred to six hundred 
miles ; had constructed the fortifications at Cerro Gordo, 
and made a ditch twelve miles long to supply the camp 
with water. 



750 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

^uv^' '^^^^ positioni5 of the Mexicans were reconnoitred, and 

the attack commenced by the division under General 

1847. Twiggs, sent to turn their position. Presently the whole 
jg_ front was assailed. The Americans seized another hill, 
El Telegrapho, up the sides of which they dragged heavy 
cannon, and began to play upon the defences of Cerro 
Gordo. The Mexicans replied with great vigor. During 
this mutual cannonade, Colonel Harney led his men rapidly 
down into the valley between the hills, and began to ascend 
the slope toward the defences on the top. The declivity 
was steep and rugged, and soon the entire fire of the battery 
was directed against these new assailants, but fortunately 
the balls for the most part passed over their heads. But 
without wavering they pressed up, carried one breastwork 
after another, until they presented themselves at the last, 
the strongest on the summit. Santa Anna, a short hour 
before, had ordered General Vasquez to defend this i3ost 
to the last extremity, and he bravely stood his ground, 
and fell while encouraging his men ; confusion ensued, 
and the struggle was soon ended. The Americans poured 
in a stream of balls, forced their way through the breast- 
work, and then charged with the bayonet. The garrison 
fled down the western slope in the direction of Jalapa. 
Twiggs had passed round the hiU, their retreat was cut oQ 
and thej' made prisoners. At this moment Santa Anna 
returned. He was enraged beyond bounds at seeing the 
discomfiture of his troops in a position which he was cer- 
tain could have been maintained. He ordered General 
Canalizo to charge up the hill and re-capture Cerro Gordo ; 
the latter absolutely refused to obey, but led off his 
cavalry. Then Santa Anna mounted a mule taken from 
his carriage, and fled, leaving as trophies to his enemies 
his travelling equipage and his private papers. 

The Mexican army was annihilated and scattered in 
all directions ; they had lost more than a thousand men, 
killed and wounded, three thousand prisoners, five 



THE yOLU>'TEERS EETUKN HOME. 751 

generals, all their artillenr and military stores. This was ^^^^J"- 

not obtained without a severe loss to the invaders, who, 

in their rash and headlong charges in the face of batteries, 18^7. 
and well protected musketeers, had lost four hundred and 
thirty-one, killed and wounded, of whom thirty-three were 
otficers. 

Possession was taken of Jalapa, three days later of "^P"' 
Perote, a stronghold on the summit of the Cordilleras, 
which was abandoned almost without a struggle, and 
then of the city of Puebla — containing eighty thousand 
inhabitants. At the latter city General Scott established ^ 
his head-quarters. 15. 

The volunteers' term of enlistments would expire in 
one month. They refused to re-enlist, but urged that 
they should be permitted to return to the United States, 
and there be disbanded, rather than on the soil of Mexico. 
They greatly dreaded the vomito, or yellow fever, as the 
season in which it was most severe was near at hand. 
Though they had no claims to be thus dismissed, General 
Scott indulged them, as it would be impossible to secure 
the capital, if the volunteers insisted on returning home 
at the end of their term of enlistments. Thus situated 
he was forced to remain inactive three months, till re-in- ^^ 
forcements arrived from the United States. 15 

During this interval several circumstances occurred 
which embarrassed the General-in-Chiers movements as 
well as disturbed his equanimity. First was the effort 
made, as he thought, to degrade him from his position in 
the army. This was to be accomplished by appointing 
over him a Lieutenant-General, a rank never held in the 
service except by Washington. The measure failed to 
pass the Senate. The same end was apparently aimed at 
in another measure by which power was given the Presi- 
dent to appoint officers to any position in the army, 
without regard to their previous rank. 



752 HISTOBT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Instead of money to buy provisions, came an order 
from the Secretary of War to autljorize the collection of 

1S47. duties levied on merchandise entering the Mexican jjorts. 
In tlie same communication was another order to levy 
contributions upon the Mexican people. This Scott ab- 
solutely refused to obey, as General Taylor had also done, 
giving as a reason the poverty of that part of the country. 
Says Scott in a letter to the Secretary : " If it is expected 
at Washington, as is now apprehended, that this army is 
to support itself by forced contributions upon the cotintry, 
we may ruin and exasperate the inhabitants and stArve 
ourselves ; for it is certain they would sooner remove or 
destroy the products of their farms, than allow them to 
fall into our hands without compensation. Not a ration 
for man or horse would be brought in except by the 
bayonet, which would oblige tlie troops to spread them- 
selves out many leagues to the right and left in search of 
subsistence, and stop all military operations." ' And he 
continued to buy provisions for the army at the regular 
jjrices of the country, and thus did much to allay a rising 
feeling of hatred toward the Americans. 

The Secretary had given as a reason for this order, 
that the Mexican people thus laid under contribution, 
and compelled to bear the expenses of the war, would soon 
become willing to conclude a treaty of peace. This might 
apply to the public revenues, and that part of the order 
the General took measures to have complied with. 

Other difliculties arose. After the capture of Vera 
Cruz General Scott suggested to the President the send- 
ing of commissioners to head-quarters to treat for peace, 
should an opportunity occur. For this important duty, 
the president appointed Mr. N. P. Trist, whose qualifica- 
tions were that he had been Consul at Havana, could 

' Gen. Scott's letter to lUc Sec. of W.ir, as quoted by Ripley, Vol. ii., p. 9fl. 



INSTRUCTIONS OF COMMISSIONER TRIST. 753 

speak Spanish and professed to understand the Mexican ^,^^P- 

character, his skill as a diplomatist could be inferred only 

from the fact that he was "Chief Clerk" in the State 1847. 
Department. Having in his possession the draft of a 
treaty fully drawn out at the dejiartment of State, he left 
Washington and arrived at Yera Cruz. He also bore a Muy. 
despatch from the Secretary of State, Mr. Buchanan, to 
tlie Mexican Minister of Foreign Relations. The plan of 
the treaty and his instructions he was directed to make 
known confidentially both to General Scott and Commo- 
dore Perry. The Secretary of War, Mr. Marcy, wrote to 
tlie General-in-Chief, informing him of the mission, but in 
general terms, and directed him to suspend active mili- 
tary operations till further orders, unless he was attacked. 

Instead of making known to General Scott the designs 
of his mission as directed, Mr. Trist sent a short note to 
head-quarters from Vera Cruz, and transmitted the sealed 
despatch to be forwarded to the Mexican Minister, and 
the letter from Secretary Marcy ; the latter could not be 
understood without the explanations which Mr. Trist 
alone could give. The general could only see in this an 
underhand attempt to degrade him by making him in 
some way subordinate to the " Chief Clerk." However, 
in a few days he wrote to Mr. Trist, what he knew of the 
views of the Mexican people and government in relation 
to a treaty of peace, to which at present they were op- 
posed. In conclusion, he remarked, that the suspension of 
liostilities belonged properly to the military commander 
on the field, and not to a Secretary of War a thousand 
miles distant. 

In reply Trist gave full explanation of his mission, but 
in disrespectful and arrogant terras, assumed to be the 
aide-de-camp of the President, and in that capacity to 
order the General-in-Chief. ' This correspondence led to 

' Ripley's War with Me-tico, Vol. ii., pp. 100, 147. 
48 



754 HISTORY OF THE AMEBICAJ^ PEOPLE. 

CHAP, much harsh feeling and retarded the advancement of the 

• TIT* 

cause. At length explanations in relation to the goim- 

1847. missioner of peace came to the general from the authoii- 
ties at Washington. The Secretary of State severely 
censured Mr. Trist " for his presuming to command the 
General-in-Chief" 

Santa Anna fled from Cerro Gordo to Orizaha, where 
he remained some time to organize bands of guerillas to 
harass the American trains, which would be on their 
way from Yera Cruz. Afterward he returned to Mexico 
to find his popularity on the wane. For a time the Mexi- 
cans were paralyzed with consternation. Their army on 
which they had depended so much had been totally routed 
at Cerro Gordo. The invincible enemy was pressing on ; 
not a barrier intervened between them and the capital. 
The city was filled with factions ; the national councils 
were divided ; ambitious men forgot their patriotism in 
their desire for self-aggrandizement. The treasury was 
bankrupt, its only resource forced loans. Yet in the face 
of all these difficulties, Santa Anna did succeed in raising 
an army of twenty-five thousand men with sixty pieces of 
artUleiy, and in having the city fortified. After all he 
was the best commander the nation could afibrd, and the 
soldiers once more put themselves under his direction, to 
repel the invaders of their country and their sacred homes. 
They did not flock to his standard from a prestige of vic- 
tory, for even when his boasts were still ringing in their 
ears, he had been ignominiously defeated ; nor were they 
induced by the confidence reposed in the integrity of a 
great and good man, to whom, as if to a superior being, 
the multitude turn in times of great peril ; but from sheer 
necessity. 

Santa Anna understood the Mexican character. By 
intrigue and the exercise of a vigorous arm, he seized 
property, and imprisoned or banished his opponents ; by pre- 



PB0CLA3U.TI0S TO THE MEXICAN PEOPLE. 755 

tending to be desirous of peace he gained time, and dis- *^^ 

honestly entered apon negotiations ; offered himself to be 

bribed, and was accepted. His plans were cunninglr de- 1S47. 
Aised : if tbev succeeded, the glory would aU redound to 
his name ; if they feiled, the censure could be thrown 
upon others. 

Thus he employed the three months that General 
Scott was forced to wait for the arrival of reinforcements. 
Had the volunteers consented to remain in the service six 
months longer, in all probability the capture of Mexico 
and a treaty of peace would have ended, the campaign, 
and the blood spared which was shed in such profusion in 
the subsequent conflicts. 

When at Jalapa General Scott issued a proclamation April 
to the people of Mexico. This manifesto, in its tone and -'^• 
spirit, was well adapted to the state of affeirs of the 
country, in showing that the true policy of the Mexican 
people was to conclude a treaty on the liberal terms 
offered by the government of the United States. The 
proclamation was issued at the instance of several Mexi- 
can gentlemen of influence, one of whom composed it in 
original Spanish, as it was dictatdi by the generaL It 
was well received by the people in the country ; but 
Santa Anna captured a courier, who was bearing copies 
of it to the capital. He at once discovered by the style 
that it was not a translation, and he proclaimed with his 
usual virtuous indignation, that ,it was the production of 
some Mexican traitor, and thus neutralized its effects on 
the people of the city. 

At this time, he had by secret agents intimated to 
Mr. Trist that he was desirous of peace, and plainly that 
money would be stUl more acceptable : if a million of 
dollars were placed at his disposal something might be 
done. That this proposition might be considered, a re- j 
conciliation took place between the general and the com- 25. 



756 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, missioner ; as neither could well act without the other 

General Pillow, who had just arrive(,l at Puebla, was also 

1847. admitted to these conferences. He was a particular 
friend of the President, and, owing to the " informal and 
confidential request " sent from Washington, this partici- 
pation was granted. Communications were continued 
with Santa Anna, but with no more important result 
than that the latter received ten thousand dollars of the 
secret service money at the disposal of General Scott. 

As might have been anticipated, it was soon seen that 
Santa Anna's only object was to obtain money and gain 
time, and General Scott made preparations to advance 
upon the city as soon as the reinforcements under Briga- 
dier-General Franklin Pierce would arrive from Vera 
Cruz. Meantime, the way to the city had been thoroughly 
reconnoitred, and General Worth sent forward with the 
first division. The whole army consisted of not more 
than ten thousand men, as great numbers had been left in 
the hospitals at Perote. 

The region through which they marched was a high 
table land beautiful in the extreme, well watered, inter- 
spersed with valleys and mountains, whose slopes were 
covered with the richest verdure, while in the distance 
their snow-capped summits glittered in the bright sun- 
shine of August. Almost from the same spot where more 
than three hundred years before Cortez and his followers 
viewed the distant temjiles of the city of Montezuma, the 
Americans hailed with, cheers the city of Mexico. 

The passes on the direct route had been well fortified, 
and were well garrisoned in the confident expectation 
that their positions could not be turned. The strongest 
of these was El Penon, to capture which the American 
engineers stated would require the loss of three thousand 
lives. General Scott was proverbially careful of the lives 
of his soldiers; the sacrifice must be avoided. The vicinity 
of the city was reconnoitred in the most daring manner ; 



I 



EL PENON TURNED BATTLE OF CONTKERAS. *7S7 

and it was discovered that the defences south and west ^j^.^J' 
were not so strongly fortified. 

The general diverted his course to the left and turned 1847. 
El Penon on the south side, and under the direction of 
skilful engineers crossed chasms and ravines deemed im- 
passable, and therefore but imijerfectly guarded. General 
Twiggs led the advance, and encamjied at Chalco on the 
lake of the same name. Worth followed, took the lead, 
and with his division halted at the town of San Augus- Ang. 
tin, about eight miles from the city. In his front was ^'' 
the strong fortress of San Antonio, now the head-quarters 
of Santa Anna, who left El Penon, when he found that 
the Americans were on their march round to the south 
side of the city. North-west of San Antonio and four 
miles from the city was the village of Churubusco, ren- 
dered strong by a series of intrenchments. Not far to 
the west of the village of San Augustiu was the fortified 
camp of Contreras, which contained six thousand men ; in 
the rear between the camp and the city were placed twelve 
thousand men in reserve. The whole number of Mexi- 
cans in these various defences was about thirty-five 
thousand, with nearly one hundred pieces of artillery of 
various sizes. 

General Persifer F. Smith proposed to attack the 
camp at Contreras, which was under the command of 
General Valencia. The night had been one of cold rain 
and storm and intense darkness, except when enlivened 
by the fitfid glare of the lightning. At three o'clock ^„„ 
in the morning, the expedition set out ; the soldiers, lest 19. 
they should become separated on the march, were directed 
to take hold of each other — at sunrise the conflict com- 
menced. The Mexicans were but partially surprised, 
still the impetuous attack effectually routed them ; three 
thousand of their number were made prisoners, eighty 
officers and thirty-five pieces of artillery. Among the 
latter were two pieces taken at Buena Vista, now recap- 



758 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, tured by a portion of tee regiment to whicli they originally 

belonged. Thus commenced this eventful day — severer 

1847. conflicts wer« yet to come. 

Generals Shields and Pierce had, during the night, 
thrown their divisions between Santa Anna and Contreras. 
The fugitives from the latter place had fled to Churu- 
busco, and there fresh troops had also arrived from the 
city ; it seemed from the preparations, that here a des- 
perate defence was to be made. 

A convent, a very strong stone building, was well for- 
tified and pierced for muskets and cannon, also the head 
of the bridge over the river was well defended. 

In an hour or two General Scott arrived ; as he rode 
along through the army he was received with hearty cheers. 
The morning's success had filled the soldiers with en- 
thusiasm, and they hoped on that day to end the war. 

Santa Anna himself was busily engaged in arranging 
his men beyond the Churubusco River — whose banks were 
lined with the maguey plant, which shielded nearly all his 
force from view. 

The rain of the previous night had flooded the low- 
lands in the vicinity ; the fortifications were masked by 
trees and fields of corn ; the latter flooded,^ and every 
part well known to the enemy, whose guns were so ar- 
ranged as to sweep them perfectly. When the Americans 
commenced the attack, their officers, in the face of these 
batteries, would advance and reconnoitre the ground, then 
the men would march up to that point, the officers would 
again advance, and the same process be repeated. During 
this time the cannon balls from the unseen enemy came 
crashing through the corn, the men and officers fell rajridly, 
yet -as if impelled by some all powerful influence, they 
moved steadily on until the works of Churubusco were in 
their hands. 

General Scott sent round to the other side a division 
under General Pillow ; they waded through the mud and 



BATTLE OF CHURUBUSCO. 



759 



water, in some instances waist deep, before they could ^^iV' 

reach the enemy. Several companies were entirely broken . . 

up, Captain Taylor's artillery men were cut up, his horses 1847. 
killed, when suddenly the Mexicans rushed out of the 
convent to charge ; but at this moment a company of 
American infantry came up and repulsed the assailants. 

The ground was intersected by causeways, and it was 
impossible to preserve military order ; also owing to their 
ignorance of the position of the enemy, as well as their 
own, the Americans were constantly in danger of firing, 
upon their own friends. The battle raged in every direc- 
tion. General Worth carried San Antonio, and General 
Twiggs another fortress. The Mexicans fought bravely, 
they were more than three to one of their foes, and they 
made every effort to repel them. 

For two hours the battle had raged. The smoke 
completely enshrouded the position of the Mexicans. 
The roar of their twenty thousand muskets seemed to 
drown the noise of the artillery, and to render the din of 
the conflict peculiarly terrific. 

The Americans could but feel their way through the 
corn, and across causeways and ditches, ignorant at what 
moment they might come upon concealed batteries. At 
length a party were enabled to cross the river Churubusco, 
and presented themselves in the rear of the enemy, at the 
same moment Worth's division emerged from the corn- 
fields in their front ; those in the rear rushed across 
ditches and over the parapets and carried the works, 
while the Mexicans at the head of the bridge abandoned 
it ; their guns were immediately seized and turned upon 
them. Both divisions pressed forward with the bayonet, 
the Mexicans recoiled in confusion, and finally fled ; the 
dragoons pursuing them to the very gates of the city. 

The victory was won, but it had cost the Americans 
dear ; a thousand had fallen or been disabled, among 
these were seventy-six officers. The coolness, the in- 



760 HISTOKY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^Liv"' <io"^'t''i^le courage and perseverance of both men ami 

. _ officers were never better displayed. The ground was 

1847. unknown, and they were thrown upon their own resources ; 
there was no wavering ; each one performed his part, and 
adapted himself to the emergency. In no battle did the 
Mexicans fight better ; they struggled hard, and the num- 
ber of their slain and wounded and missing — nearly seven 
thousand — testifies that they were brave. 

Santa Anna fled to the city. The night after the 
battle several persons connected with the British embassy 
in Mexico appeared at the American head-quarters, and 
informed General Scott that the Mexican authorities were 
disposed to conclude a peace, and advised that the capital 
should not be assaulted, lest the members of the govern- 
ment should be dispersed, and leave no acknowledged 
authority to enter upon negotiations. 

A flag of truce came the next day and presented the 
request for hostilities to cease preparatory to negotiating 
a treaty. In accordance with this request, and the repre- 
sentations made the previous evening, Mr. Trist went 
to the capital and presented his conditions of peace — the 
same drawn up at Washington. After protracted delays, 
evidently designed to gain time, the Mexican, commis- 
sioners announced that they would not accede to these 
conditions, and in turn they proposed others, which they 
well knew would not be acceptable. 
Sept. Mr. Trist returned with this intelligence, and also that 

contrary to the terms of the armistice, Santa Anna was 
fortifying the city, and in other respects had violated his 
pledges. ' 

Indignant at the continued treacherv, General Scott 
now ordered the army to march upon the capital. 

On the way were two strong positions : the one Molino 
del Key, (the King's Mill,) a foimdry, where, it was said, 
the bells of the churches were being rapidly converted into 
cdnnon ; near by was the strong castle of Chapultepec, 



0. 



CAPTURE OF MOLIKO DEL KET. 761 

which could not be turned, but must be taken, before the ^^W"' 
city could be reached. 



It was resolved to capture Molino del Key ; and at 1847. 
three in the morning General Worth sent forward the ^^_ ' 
different corps of his division to commence the attack at 
dawn of day. While it was yet dark, the two twenty- 
four pounders opened and sent their balls through the 
walls of masonry. There was no reply, and it was tliought 
the Mexicans had abandoned the building. Instead, they 
had changed their position during the night, and now had 
their guns in readiness to pour grape and round sliot upon 
the flank of the advancing Americans. From the mani- 
fest preparations, it is thought, Santa Anna, who was ou 
the ground, knew of the intended attack. His advantages 
in number and position were great, and when his guns 
opened, their effect was terrible. In a few minutes the 
front of the American advance was cut down ; of tburteeu 
officers, eleven were either killed or wounded, and a like 
proportion of the men. The company was forced to fall 
back, and the Mexicans, as usual, with savage ferocity, 
rushed out and murdered all the wounded they could find. 

Worth ordered forward other companit^ and these 
were seconded by another brigade, who vigorously attacked 
the Mexican flank. Though exposed to a cross fire which 
did fearful execution, these all fought desperately ; it would 
seem that the idea of retreating from the face of such 
overwhelming odds, never occurred to them ; they held on 
and steadily advanced. 

Presently General Leon himself headed a strong sortie 
from the Molino del Key, but it was driven back; Leon 
was mortally wounded, and several ofiicers of high rank 
were slain. The attack was continued in a desultory 
manner, the assailants sought in various ways to gain 
access to the enemy ; they crept along the sides and fii^d 
into the apertures, climbed to the top of the building and 
tore down the walls with their hands or pritd the stones 



762 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, loose with their bayonets. At length they broke through 
the southern gate, and rushing in with loud shouts engaged 



13. 



184:7. in close combat. The Mexicans did not yield, but con- 
tinued to fire upon them, from the building into the 
courtyards. The Americans burst open door after door, 
reached the roof, and with the bayonet met the enemy 
hand to hand. In a few minutes the north-west gate was 
in like manner forced. A portion of the Mexicans held 
out a white flag in token of surrender, while others mado 
their way to Chapultepec. 

This has been deemed the hardest contested conflict 
of the entire war. The enemy were in numbers three to 
one, and in a strong position. After the commencement 
of the attack, the Americans had scarcely any aid from 
their heavy cannon, but were forced to depend upon their 
rifles and muskets. Still they carried the place, and 
captured .eight hundred prisoners, and lost themselves 
seven hundred and eighty-seven killed and wounded, of 
whom fifty-nine were oSicers — nearly one-fourth of the 
whole number engaged in the battle. The loss of so many 
brave men shed a gloom over the entire army. 

The Castle of Chapultepec stood on a high and preci- 
pitous hill, very steep and rocky, on the south side toward 
the Americans ; on the west the slope was more gradual, 
but covered with dense woods and rough with rocks. 
Here, shielded by these, was a large force of Mexicans. 

At the earliest dawn the full force of the American 
cannon was concentrated upon the walls of the castle, 
Sept. and at the west side, storming parties were waiting anx- 
iously for a breach to be made, by which they might 
carry it by assault. They groped their way from tree to 
tree and rock to rock, driving the Mexicans before them, 
when suddenly, on the crest of the hill, the whole force 
came out on the open space in the presence of ram 
parts frowning with cannon and musketry. They ap- 



CASTLE OF CHAPDLTEPEC TAKEN. 763 

proached cautiously, returning only a few shots, but still ^R^- 

drawing nearer and nearer. Presently an ensign bearing 

the standard of his regiment, rushed forward to the ram- 1?4:7. 
part, a shout arose, and a few followed with ladders, 
placed them against the wall and with a cheer bounded 
over. The Mexicans, taken by surprise, stood but a few 
minutes, then scrambled over the side and down the 
precipitous rocks out of danger. This was the only in- 
stance during the war where the Americans so far forgot 
themselves as not to cease their fire at the submission of 
the foe, and even now it continued only for a few minutes. 
Their provocations had been great. Only a few days be- 
fore, as on every other occasion, they had seen their 
wounded companions, found on the field of battle, barba- 
rously murdered by the Mexicans. The exulting shouts, 
the disregard of discipline, which continued for an hour, 
only manifested the deep emotions which prevailed. 

The castle was a mass of ruins ; so effective had been 
the shots and shells, that it was battered to pieces. Here 
had been the national military school, and here the young 
students had bravely stood their ground. All of their 
number, who were not slain, were taken prisoners, with the 
aged General Bravo their commander. 

While the conflict was in progress General Quitman 
was engaged in capturing the defences thrown over the 
causeways which led through a marsh — a lake in the days 
of Cortez — to the city. They were taken in succession ; 
each one gave more or less resistance. At nightfall the 
Mexicans were driven within the city, and the Americans 
held two of its gates. 

At midnight commissioners came with propositions of 
peace, and to surrender the city ; they stated that Santa 
Anna was marching out with his army. General Scott 
refused to listen again to terms of accommodation ; when 
bis kindness of feeling had prompted him to offer them 
peace, he had been grossly deceived. The following morn- 



764 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

t!HAP. ing, with six thousand men, he marched into the city, 

drew up his army upon the great plaza, and hoisted tlie 

1847. stars and stripes over the National Palace. 
j^" For several days the troops were occasionally fired 

upon from windows and the tops of houses ; the work, it 
was said, of convicts, two thousand of whom had just been 
liberated ; but stringent measures were taken to insure 
safety. 

Santa Anna, with three or four thousand troops, had 
gone toward Puebla. He devolved his authority upon 
Pena y Pena, the President of the Supreme Court of 
Justice. The other prominent Mexicans went in different 
directions. 

Colonel Childs had been left in command at Puebla 
with a small garrison, only five hundred men, to protect 
eighteen hundred sick and disabled American soldiers. 
The Mexicans, encouraged by false reports of success at 
the capital, made frequent desultory attacks upon the 
garrison, but by great exertions Colonel Childs held them 
Sept. at bay for nine days, when Santa Anna, with a remnant 
— some four or five thousand — of his discomfited army, 
appeared, and in a poi^ipous manner summoned Childs to 
surrender. The summons was disregarded. The Mexi- 
can chief blockaded the town for seven days and then 
marched to intercept a train, on its way from Vera Cruz. 
General Lane was in command of this convoy — troops from 
Taylor's army, composed of Indiana and Ohio volunteers. 

Santa Anna took position at Huamantla, a town some 
miles north of the main pass El Pinal, intending to attack 
the Americans when they should become entangled in the 
defile. But Lane was not thus to be entrapped. He at 
once set out, surprised Santa Anna himself, and compelled 
him, after some loss, to abandon the town. The train 
unmolested moved on the following day to Puebla, and 
8. the garrison, after a month's siege, was relieved. 



TREATY OF PEACE CONCLUDED. 



765 



Within ten days it was ascertained that Santa Anna ^^-^F- 

was concentrating another force at Alixo. Lane, by a 

forced march, suddenly fell upon them, and dispersed 1847. 
them beyond recovery. Almost immediately after his 
failure to prevent the capture of the city of Mexico, Santa 
Anna resigned the presidency of the republic, but still 
retained his office as commander-in-chief of the Mexican 
armies. Now he was mortified to receive a note from 
Senor Rosa, the Minister of War, informing him that his 
services were no longer required by the government, which 
had just been inaugurated. He took the hint, and was 
ftoon on his way to the Gulf Coast, thence to the West 
Indies to be ere long again engaged in intrigues to disturb 
his unfortunate country. 

In a few weeks after the capture of the city of Mexico, 
the seat of government was removed to Queretaro. Soon 
after members for a new Congress were elected, and that 
body commenced its session. At the town of Guadalupe 
Hidalgo, commissioners and Mr. Trist were negotiating a 
treaty of peace. It was concluded on the 2d of February, ^^^g 
and now it only remained to be ratified by the authorities 
at Washington to formally close the war, which, from the 
battle of Palo Alto to the capture of the city of Mexico, 1846 
had lasted one year and five months. Sept. 

In this brief period, armies, of their own free will, had -[g^'^ 
flocked to the standard of their country ; had been organ- 
ized, had marched into a foreign land, dissimilar to their 
own in climate and in feature, some across deserts and 
through districts infected with direful disease, others in 
mid-winter passed over untrodden mountains, covered 
with snow, and then in turn over arid plains, and met 
the enemy in conflict many hundreds of miles from their 
homes, while fleets were fitted out, which swept round 
Cape Horn, and were in time to perform their part. The 
rapidity with which cannon were manufactured and mu- 



Mav 
9,' 



1847. 



766 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, nitions of war prepared and transported to the scene of 
. .• action, was astonishing. 

During the time of the occupation of the city of 
Mexico, difficulties arose between some of the officers of 
the army. From misunderstandings hasty charges were 
made, and recriminations followed. Two of the officers, 
Pillow and Worth, made charges against the General-in- 
Chief, and he ordered them under arrest for insubordina- 
tion. They appealed to the War Department, and made 
representations, in consequence of which the Tenerable 
commander, who had been a worthy leader from Lundy'-s 
Lane to Mexico, was superseded by an order from Wash- 
ington, and the temporary command given to another. 
Subsequently the charges were virtually withdrawn, and 
they resumed their respective ranks. It is not expedient 
to go into detail ; let the matter sink into oblivion. But 
never before — and may it never be again — in the history 
of the country, when its interests were so deeply involved, 
did the terms of " party," democrat or whig, of " friends" 
or " opponents " of the " administration," have so much 
influence. 

Certainly, in truth it has been said, that those who 
served their country well in this war fared badly. Taylor, 
who was victorious from Palo Alto to Buena Vista, was 
quarrelled with ; Scott, who marched triumphant from 
Vera Cruz to Mexico, was superseded ; Fremont, who 
secured California, was court-martialled, and Trist, who 
made the treaty, which secured the objects of the war, 
was recalled and dismissed. 

The war had been an unceasing source of disappoint- 
ment to those whose measures brought it on. Santa 
Anna, who was to have ]^een a harbinger of peace, had to 
be beaten from point to point, and not until he was 
finally driven from power did those of his countrymen, 
who were in favor of an amicable arrangement, dare to act 



DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA. 767 

When the commissioners, appointed by the President fgAP. 

to supersede Trist, arrived at Mexico, they found the treaty . 

negotiated and signed by the parties. In substance it was 1848. 
the same that had been prepared by the Cabinet. When 
brougrht to Washino-ton it was at once laid before the 
Senate, and after a short discussion ratified. The Presi- 
dent by proclamation, on the 4th of July, 1848, made 
known to the nation that the war was at an end, and a 
sati.sfactory treaty had been concluded. 

New Mexico and Upper California were ceded to the 
United States, and the lower Kio Grande, from its mouth 
to El Paso, was taken as the boundary of Texas. Mexico 
was to receive fifteen millions of dollars ; the claims of 
American citizens against her — amounting to three and a 
quarter millions of dollars — were assumed by the United 
States. In a few months not an American soldier was on 
Mexican soil. 

On the 4th of July, 1845, the annexation of Texas 
was consummated ; and thus within three years a territory 
four times as large as France, had been added to the 
United States. — regions hitherto imperfectly known, but 
having in store the elements of great wealth. 

At the very time that the commissioners were nego- 
tiating the treaty, a laborer engaged at work upon a mill- 
race belonging to Captain Sutter, on one of the tributaries 
of the Sacramento river, noticed in the sand some shining 
particles. They proved to be gold. By the time the 
treaty was ratified rumors of the discovery reached the 
United States. The excitement produced was unprece- 
dented. In a short time thousands were on their way to 
the land of gold. Every means of conveyance was called 
into requisition, from the emigrant's pack-horse and wagon, 
to the sailing-vessel and the steam-ship. Some went in 
caravans over the plains and the Rocky Mountains ; 
some crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and found their 
way up the Pacific coast ; others took ship and passed 



768 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAX PEOPLE. 

CHAP, round Cape Horn. The sufferings of the great majority 
■ of these adventurers were intense ; hundreds of them met 



1848. untimely deaths on the way, or by disease, privations, and 
improvidence, when they reached their journey's end. 
The ferment extended throughout the civilized world, 
Multitudes of gold-seekers were soon on their way from 
the different countries of Europe and South America, and 
even distant China sent her thousands. The tide of im- 
migration v/as directed to San Francisco, which, from a 
miserable village of a few huts, soon became a«ity of fifteen 

1859. thousand inhabitants, now to have more than five times 
that number, and to be the great entrepot of the Pacific. 
The influence of this discovery of gold mines, has been 
incalculable in its effects, not merely upon the United 
States, but has extended to other nations. " It touched 
the nerves of industry throughout the world," infused new 
life into commerce, and awakened a spirit of adventure and 
individual exertion never before known. 

Feb. On the 21st of February, the venerable John Quincy 

~^' Adams, when in his seat in the House of Kepresentatives, 
was struck by paralysis. Two days later he expired. His 
last words were, " This is the last of earth : — I am con- 
tent." Born in revolutionary times : " The cradle hymns 
of the child were the songs of liberty." He had associated 
with the fathers of the republic, and was the representa- 
tive of the memories of that heroic age. For more than 
sixty years he had been constantly engaged in public 
affairs. At the age of fourteen, private secretary to 
Francis Dana, American minister to Russia ; at twenty- 
seven appointed minister to Holland by Washington, 
who styled him " the ablest of all our diplomatic corps." 
Afterward successively, United States Senator ; profes- 
sor in Harvard College ; minister to Russia ; one of the 
negotiators of the treaty of Ghent ; Secretary of State 
under Monroe ; President, and then member of the House 
till his death, at the age of fourscore. Old in years but 



THE WILMOT PROVISO. 



V69 



buoyant in spirit, he never lagged behind his age ; but ^?A^ 

with careful eye watched the progress of his country, and 

eympathized with its youthful energies. 1848. 

The administration of Mr. Polk was drawing to a 
close. Its great event had been the Mexican war, the 
train for which was laid under his predecessor. The 
taritf of 1842, under which the industry of the country 
had rapidly recovered from its prostration, after an ex- 
istence of four years was so modified, as to afford less jiro- 1846. 
tection to American manufactures. 

David Wilmot, a member of the House from Penn- 
sylvania, introduced a proposition into Congress, since 
known as the " Wilmot Proviso," by which slavery should 
be prohibited in all territory obtained by treaty. The 
" Proviso " did not become a law, but the subject of 
slavery was once more brought Uf) for discussion. -^^^ 

The Democratic convention met at Baltimore to nomi- 1. 
nate a candidate for the office of President. Two sets of 
delegates appeared from New York, both claiming to be 
the true representatives of the Democracy of that State. 

No compromise could reconcile the parties, and the con- 
vention solved the difficulty by excluding both from its 
deliberations. It then proceeded to nominate Senator 
Lewis Cass, of Michigan, for President, and General 
William 0. Butler, of Kentucky, for Vice-President. 

The delegates representing the Whig party, and those 
opposed to the measures of the administration, met at 
Philadelphia, and nominated General Zachary Taylor for 
President, and Millard Fillmore, of New York, for Vice- 
President. J'['« 

One portion of the Democracy of New York accei3ted 
the nominations of the Baltimore convention ; another 
portion rejected them. The latter called a convention, 
at Buffalo of those who were opposed to the extension of 
slavery into free territory. They adopted a platform in 
49 



770 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP, favor of " Free Soil," and nominated ex-president Van 

Buren for the Presidency and Charles Francis Adams 

1848. (son of John Quincy Adams) for the Vice-Presidency. 
"^" A spirited canvass followed, and the candidates of 

the Whig party were elected. 

During the last year of this administration, Wisconsin 
was admitted into the Union as a State, and Minnesota 
organized as a Territory. 

A new Department, that of the Interior, was created 
by Congress, to relieve the Secretary of tjie Treasury of 
part of his duties. 

On the fifth of March, the fourth occurring on the 
Sabbath, the new President was inducted into office. 

Mr. Polk, broken down in health, retired to his home 
in Nashville, Tennessee, where in a few months he was 
Jime. numbered with the dead. A man of exemplary char- 
acter ; he was lamented by the people. 



CHAPTEK LV. 

TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Discussion on Slavery. — Wilmot Proviso. — The Powers of the Constitution ; 
their Application in the Territories. — Thirty-first Congress. — President's 
Message ; its Recommendations. — Debate on the Omnibus Bill. — Death 
of Calhoun. — Death of President Taylor. — Fillmore Inaugurated. — 
The Fugitive Slave Law. — The Mormons ; their Origin ; Troubles ; 
Settlement in Utah. — A Disunion Convention. — Lopez invades Cuba. — 
The Search for Sir John Franldin. — Dr. E. K. Kane. — Death of Henry 
Clay ; of Daniel Webster. — The Tripartite Treaty. — Presidential 
Election. 

General Zachary Taylor was a native of Virginia ; but chap. 



when he was very young, his father removed to Kentucky, 
and on the frontiers of that State he spent his youth as a 1849. 
farmer. At the age of twenty-four he received a com- 
mission in the army from President Jefferson, and en- 18O8. 
tered upon a career more congenial to his tastes than cul- 
tivating the soil. For forty years he was in the military 
service of his country ; his sphere of duty was on the 
frontiers ; and thus situated he had never even voted 
at au election. Honest and frank, blest with common 
sense and firmness of purpose, he was withal unselfish 
and patriotic, and uncontaminated with political intrigues. 
His inaugural address on taking the office of President, 
was brief, and confined to a declaration of general prin- 
ciples. His cabinet, at the head of which was Johu 
M. Clayton of Delaware, was at once confirmed by the 
Senate. 



772 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

CHAP. The question of slavery had appeared under different 

phases. For twelve years after the passage of the Mis- 

1820. souri Compromise, the subject had not been agitated in 
Congress, but now attention was drawn to it by the pre- 
sentation of memorials, praying tliat body to abolish the 
slave-trade and slavery in the District of Columbia. 
Meantime others, who looked upon the system as an evil 
to be remedied at all hazards, sent through the mail to 
1832. the South publications, addressed to the slave-owners 
themselves, and designed to influence them in favor of 
emancipation ; but there were others who sent papers 
that contained engravings by no means calculated to 
make the slave contented with his lot. The fear was 
great lest the latter might become the occasion of insur- 
rections and blood-shed. President Jackson recommended 

1835. to Congress to pass a law prohibiting the use of the mail 
for the circulation of " incendiary publications." But the 
bill to that effect did not become a law. The excitement 
was great, both North and South : in the former sometimeB 
developing itself in violent measures against the abolition- 
ists ; in the latter, some broke into the post-offices and 
destroyed the obnoxious papers, and others raised the cry 
of disunion, while, so embittered, had the feeling become 

1836. jj^ Congress, that for a time memorials on the subject 
would not be received. 

Now the slavery agitation was a legacy left by the 
previous administration — a question which overshadowed 
all others, and almost exclusively engaged the attention 
1846. of Congress and the nation. Three years before the Wil- 
raot Proviso had initiated the discussion, which was fast 
acquiring a tone of bitterness hitherto unknown. The 
contents of the newspapers showed that the question had 
penetrated into every nook and corner of the land — ^ia 
social circles and in the retirement of the fireside — all 
were alive to the importance of the subject at issue ; the 



1849. 



DISCUSSION ON THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY. 773 

emotions of a nation swayed in the storm of clashing chap 
opinions. 

The annexation of Texas and the consequent war with 
Mexico, came to be looked upon as designed to further 
the interests of slavery, and to commit the nation to the 
policy of extending that system. Those opposed to such 
measures endeavored to counteract them by means of the 
Proviso, but that had failed to receive the sanction of 
Congress. With the exception of Texas proper, it was 
uncertain whether the newly-acquired territories would 
admit slavery ; the indications were that they w^ould re- 
ject it. And this feature of the controversy gave rise to 
another question ; how to introduce the system into free 
territory. Would Congress subvert the law of Mexico, 
which had long since prohibited human bondage within 
her limits ? That body never at any time had interfered 
with slavery as existing in the States, neither had it 
directly legislated it into free territory : the policy had 
rather been not to interfere with the inhabitants in de- 
ciding the question for themselves. 

The last Congress, absorbed in the turmoil of the dis- 
cussion, had dissolved without providing governments for 
the territories. To remedy this evil, President Taylor in- 
structed the Federal officers in these territories to en- 
courage the people to organize temporary governments for 
themselves. 

President Polk in his last message had recommended 
that the Missouri Compromise line of thirty-six degrees 
thirty minutes north latitude, be extended to the Pacific, 
and thus leave the territory south of that line liable to be 
made slavcholding. Motions to that effect failed in Con- 
gress. That line had been adopted for the Louisiana 
territory alone, which was slave, and it made one side free, 
but if it was produced to the Pacific it would pass through 
free territory, and therefore make one side slave. 



774 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. The advocates of the system contended that tliey had 

LV. ... 

a right to go into any of the territories and take with them 

IS 19. their property, meaning slaves. That was admitted, but 
only under the laws of Congress, which so far protected 
such property, but it was denied that the slaveholder 
could carry with him the municipal law of the State from 
which he emigrated, any more than the emigrant from a 
free State could take with him its peculiar laws. 

The same object was sought by attempting to " ex- 
tend the constitution of the United States to the terri- 
tories," and this under the form of an amendment attached 
to the general appropriation bill, providing a temporary 
government for the ceded territories, and extending to 
them certain acts of Congress. The proposition elicited 
a discussion in which Calhoun and Webster each took 
part. The former argued that the Constitution recog- 
nized slavery ; that it was the supreme law of the land ; 
therefore it was superior to every law in opposition to 
slavery, not only overriding any territorial law to that 
effect, but even superior to any law of Congress designed 
to abolish it ; and that the property of the South, mean- 
ing slaves, would thus be protected by the Constitution 
in the territories into which Calhoun openly avowed his 
intention to thus carry the institution of slaverj'. " The 
Constitution," said he, " pronounces itself to be the su- 
jjreme law of the land ; " the States as well as the Ter- 
ritories. 

Mr. Webster replied that the Constitution was made 
for the States and not for the Territories ; that Congress 
governed the latter independently of the Constitution, 
and often contrary to it, and was constantly doing things 
in the Territories that it could not do in the States ; and 
that the Constitution coidd not operate of itself in the 
Territories. " When new territory has been acquired," 
said he, " it has always been subject to the laws of Con- 



THE POWERS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 775 

gress, to such laws as Congress thought proper to pass for "^^^P' 

its immediate government and preparatory state in which , 

it was to remain until it was ready to come into the 1S49. 
Union as one of the family of States." He quoted the 
Constitution itself, which declares that " it and the laws 
of Congress passed under it shall he the supreme law o 
the land." Thus it required a definite law of Congress 
to estabhsh slavery in the Territories under the Constitu- 
tion, as shown by the words of that instrument itself 

The amendment failed in both houses ; but it became 
the germ of another doctrine, that the Constitution of the 
United States, independently of an act of Congress, but 
in spite of it, not only goes of itself to the territories but 
carries with it a shield protecting slavery. 

During this session of Congress meetings were held at 
Washington, attended by a majority of the members of 
Congress from the slave-holding States, to take into con- 
sideration the measures best adapted to secure southern 
rights. 

They pubUshed an Address to the people of the South. 
It was drawn up by Calhoun, and by no means was it 
conciliatory in its tone and sentiments, and for that 
reason it failed to enlist in its favor all the delegates from 
the South. In truth it became a party measure. Only 
forty members, all from the slaveholdiug States, signed 
their names to the Address : of these, thirty-eight belonged 
to the Democratic party. 

This manifesto was soon followed by a Southern Con- 
vention to dissolve the Union. The Legislatures of two 
of the States, South Carohna and Mississijipi, issued a 
call for a " Southern Congress," to frame a government 
for a " United States South." 

The agitation was not limited to the South ; the 
North was as busily engaged in canvassing the exciting 
question, and both parties were summoning their energies 
for the conflict in the new Congress about to meet. 



776 HISTORY OF THE AllEKICAX PEOPLE. 

CHAP. The thirty-first Congress, called a month earlier than 

the usual time, met in its lirst session. Parties vreru 

1849. nearly equally divided. The House spent three weeks, 
"^.P" and balloted sixty times for a speaker, and only succeeded 
by changing the rule by which a majority of the whole is 
required to elect, to that of a plurality. Mr. C. Howell 
Cobb, of Georgia, was elected ; his competitor was Mr. 
Eobert C. "Wiuthrop, of Massachusetts. 

The first and only annual message of President Taylor 
was sent in. He saw the difliculties which lay in his 
path. The bitterness of party had been increased by 
sectional feeUngs. The President felt the responsibility 
of his position ; but he fearlessly yet temperately gave his 
views, and plainly intimated that he should not shrink 
from his duty to the Union itself ; deprecated sectional 
controversies, and referred to Washington in confirmation 
of this sentiment. 

The points at issue were various, and he recommended 
a plan to settle each. As California, whose population 
had increased so rapidly, had framed a Constitution, he 
advised that she should be at once admitted into the 
Union ; that Xew Mexico and Utah should be organized 
as territories, and when they were prepared to come into 
the Union as States, be permitted to decide the question 
of slavery for themselves ; and that the dispute between 
Texas and New Mexico, in relation to their boundaries, 
should be settled by the judicial authority of the United 
States. 

Early in the session Henry Clay moved in the Senate 
a series of resolutions designed to settle these disputes by 
a compromise. A committee of thirteen was appointed, 
to whom these resolutions and the various plans which 
had been proposed were referred. In due time Mr. Clay, 
as chairman, reported. The spirit of the resolutions was 
combined in one measure, which, from its character and 
the dissimilar objects it was designed to accomplish, was 



DISCUSSION ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 777 

Btyled the Omnibus Bill It proposed the admission of chap 

California ; the organization, without mention of slavery, . 

of the territories of New Mexico and Utah ; the arrange- 1849. 
ment of the Texas boundary, by paying the latter ten 
millions of dollars ; the abolition of the slave trade in the 
District of Columbia, and the enactment of a more 
stringent fugitive slave law. 

Senator Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, insisted that 1850. 
the bill was not equal in its provisions, because the South 
gained nothing by the measure ; and he urged that the 
Missouri line of compromise should be extended to the 
Pacific, " with the specific recognition of the right to hold 
slaves in the Territory below that line." 

To tliis Clay replied, that " no earthly power could 
induce him to vote for a specific measure for the introduc- 
tion of slavery where it had not existed, either north or 
south of that line." " I am unwilling," continued he, 
" that the posterity of the present inhabitants of Califor- 
nia and of New Mexico should reproach us for doing just 
what we reproach Great Britain for doing to us." " If 
the citizens of those Territories come here with Constitu- 
tions establishing slavery, I am for admitting them into 
the .Union ; but then it will be their own work and not 
ours, and their posterity will have to reproach them and 
not us." 

Calhoun, now near to death, in a speech read by a 
friend, urged that if the Union would be preserved, it 
must be by an equal number of slave and free States, to 
maintain the number of senators equal in the Senate. 

" The incurabiUty of the evil," said Senator Benton, 
of Missouri, "is the greatest objection." " It is a ques- 
tion of races, involving consequences which go to the 
destruction of one or the other ; this was seen fifty years 
ago, and the wisdom of Virginia balked at it then. It 
eeems to be above human reason. But there is a wisdom 



July, 

9. 



778 HISTOKT OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 

CHAP, above human ! and to that we must look. In the mean- 

. time not extend the evil." 

1849. Soon after this occurred the death of John C. Calhoun. 

He first entered Congress in 1811, and during almost 
forty years had fiUed various offices in the service of his 
country. A man of primitive tastes and simple manners, 
uniting the kindliest of feelings with unflinching integrity, 
and devotion to duty. The latter portion of his public 
career was marked by the most strenuous advocacy of 
3l/ States' rights and Southern institutions. 

A few months later President Taylor was also num- 
bered with the dead. He suddenly became ill with a 
violent fever, which terminated his life in a few days, after 
he had held office sixteen months. He had shown him- 
self equal to the emergency ; and his death was a public 
calamity indeed. Though elected by one party, his policy 
and acts were approved by all, and the whole nation 
mourned his loss. 



MILLAED FILLMORE. 

The Vice-President, on the 10th of July, took the 
oath, and was inaugurated as President. It was done 
without show or parade ; merely a joint committee of 
three from each House of Congress, and the members of 
the cabinet, attended him. The oath was administered 
by the venerable William Cranch, Chief Justice of the 
Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, who, appointed 
by John Adams, had held the office for fifty years. Not 
an unnecessary word was spoken j the ceremony was one 
of deep solemnity. 

The first official act of Mr. FiUmore was to call upon 
Congress to take suitable measures for the funeral of the 
late President, " who had been so recently raised by the 
unsolicited voice of the people to the highest civil authority 



ADMISSION OF CALIFOENIA. 779 

in the government." An impressive funeral service was ^^y^ 

performed, and eulogies pronounced upon liim by many of 

the leading statesmen of the countrj^ The Cabinet re- 1850. 
signed, and the President nominated another, at the head 
of which was Daniel Webster as Secretary of State. 

Four months had nearly elapsed since Henry Clay 
reported his Compromise Bill. Its provisions had been 
thoroughly discussed by the members of both Houses. It 
was then taken up article by article and passed — the last 
the Fugitive Slave law. The similar law which had been Sept. 
enacted in 1787, as part of the ordinance prohibiting 
slavery in the Territory north-west of the Ohio, and also 
a law to the same effect passed during Washington's ad- 
ministration, were thought to be defective, and a new one i^gs, 
was framed. 

The Supreme Court of the United States held the 
opinion that justices of the peace in the respective States, 
were not called upon to enl'orce the law for the rendition 
of slaves. Since the agitation of the slavery question in 
Congress, a dislike to enforcing that law had greatly in- 
creased in the free States. The feeling reached the 
Legislatures and some of them, by law, prohibited the use 
of their jails for the confinement of fugitive slaves, and 
the justices of the peace refused to act on the subject. 
To obviate the latter difficulty the present bill provided 
for the appointment of United States' commissioners, 
before whom such cases could be tried. 

When the vote on the reception of California was 
taken, and she admitted to tlie Union, her senators, Wm. 
M. Gwin and John C. Fremont, who had been in waiting, 
immediately took their seats. 

The vast region known as Utah, was in the possession 
of the Indians and the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, a 
religious sect. It was founded by Joseph Smith, a native 
of Vermont, but at that time a resident of Central New 13-27 



780 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^LV^' ^'^'"^ > illiterate and superstitious, cunning and unpiin- 

cipled ; when a youth he loved to dupe his companions ; 

1850. at the age of fifteen he pre^tended that he had seen visions ; 
and at twenty-two that he had received a direct revelation 
from heaven ; that he had been directed to a certain hill, 
where he would find golden plates, covered with Egyptian 
characters, which he alone, as a prophet, was empowered 
to decipher. This was the famous " Book of Mormon." 
It professed to give a new system of religion, and to 
chronicle events which occurred on this continent long an- 
terior to the Christian era. 

It is said a man named Spaulding, when laboring 
under ill health wrote the story to alleviate his hours of 
ennui ; after his death the manuscript fell into the hands 
of Smith, who unscrupulously used it to deceive his fel- 
low-men. 

His system of polygamy led to gross immoralities ; 
and the vicious, as well as the ignorant, some of whom 
may have been honest, became his disciples. In five 
1833. years he had twelve hundred foUov/ers. At this time the 
whole sect removed to Jackson county, Missouri. As 
they professed to be the true saints, by virtue of which 
they were to become the inheritors of the western country, 
they became objects of distrust to the Missourians. The 
militia were called out, but the Mormons avoided a con- 
4840. flict by crossing the river to Illinois. 

They prepared to make that State their home. On a 
bluff, overlooking the Mississipjji, they founded a city, 
Nauvoo, and erected an imposing temple. Thefts and 
robberies were numerous in the vicinity, and these crimes 
were attributed to the Mormons, some of whom were 
arrested. The saints, it was said, controlled the courts, for 
the prisoners were speedily liberated. An intense excite- 
ment was produced in the country by these proceedings. 
At length the Prophet himself, and a brother, were ar- 
rested and thrown into prison in the town of Carthage 



SALT LAKE CITY DISUNION CONVENTION. 781 

A mob collected a few days after, and in the melee the ^?y^ 

brothers were slain. The spirit aroused against them was 

so violent that the Mormons could find safety alone in IS-ti. 
flight, and the following year they sold their possessions, 
left their beautiful city, which contained ten thousand in- 
habitants, and under chosen elders emigrated away across 
the plains and over the Eocky Mountains, and finally 
found a resting place in the Great Basin. As they were 
now upon the soil of Mexico, they hoped their troubles 
were at an end. They significantly called their new 
home, Deseret — the land of the Honey Bee. To recruit 
their numbers they sent missionaries to every quarter of 
the globe ; that these zealous apostles have met with 
astonishing succass in obtaining proselytes, is a sad 
reflection. 

Meantime they labored with great zeal in founding a 
city on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. It is on ground 
four thousand three hundred feet above the level of the 
ocean, and planned on a large scale ; its streets eight 
rods wide, and every house surrounded by a garden. 

Presently came the war with Mexico, and the ceding 
of all that region to the United States. The Mormons 
were the first to organize themselves as a territory under 
the name of Deseret, but Congress saw proper to change 
the name to Utah. President Fillmore appointed Brigham 
Young, one of their elders, the first governor. 1850. 

After the passage of the Compromise Bill, the agita- 
tion by no means ceased in the south. The design of 
seceding from the Union was openly avowed. A Disunion 
Convention met at Nashville, Tennessee. It invited the 
assembling of a " Southern Congress," but the legislatures 
of only two States responded to the call — South Carolina 
and Mississippi. The former elected their qtiota of repre- 
sentatives to the Congress. The great mass of the people 
were moved but little by these appeals, and the country 



782 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAX PEOPLE, 

CHAP, breathed more freely in the eonfident hehef that the vexed 

, question was really at rest. 

iSoO In no previous discussion of the subject did the great 

majoritj^ of the people of the Union manifest so much 
interest, not because it had become more important, but 
a great change had been wrought, since, thirty years be- 
fore, the country was agitated by the discussions, which 
led to the enactment of the Missouri Compromise. The 
number of newspapere had increased at an unprecedented 
rate, and with them the facilities for publishing general 
intelligence and reporting the debates in Congress, and 
now was added the telegraph, which seemed almost to 
bring the ears of the nation to the Halls of Legislation. 
Yet in a still greater proportion had the nuaibers of in- 
telligent readers increased, millions of whom became 
familiar with the question and the principles involved, 
and watched with increasing interest every new phase the 
subject assumed. This may account for the earnestness 
which characterized this conflict of opinions ; the mass of 
the people read and judged for themselves. The philan- 
thropist may not dread the response of their hearts ; — they 
may be slow to act, but they are untrammelled by pledges 
and uninfluenced by political aspirations. 

About the commencement of Taylor's administration, 
General Lopez, a Spaniard, endeavored to create a revo- 
lution in Cuba. He represented that the people of that 
island were anxious and prepared to throw oif the yoke of 
the mother country ; and by this means he persuaded lai'ge 
numbers of adventurous spirits in the United States to 
engage in the enterprise. The pretext was to aid the 
Cubans ; but the real object was to secure the annexation 
of the island to the United States. President Taylor 
promptly issued a proclamation forbidding citizens of the 
Union to engage in the expedition. The warning was 
unheeded, and a company of six hundred men, under the 



SIK JOHN FBANKLIX DR. E. K. KANE. 783 

lead of Lujjtz, eluded the United States' authorities, and ^'^^• 
landed at Cardenas. But not meeting with sympathy 



from the people whoifi they professed to have come to 1850. 
liberate, they re-emuarKed, and sailed for Key \Yest, ^'g^ 
Florida, barely escaping capture on the way by a Spanish 
Bteam-vessel of war. 

The following year the attempt was renewed. A party 
of four hundred and eighty men landed on the island, but 
were almost immediately overpowered and captured. 
Lopez and f> nu^i^ber of his deluded followers were put to 
death by the opaaish authorities at Havana. 

In 1845, Sir John Franklin sailed from England in 
quest of the long sought for north-west passage. No tid 
ings had ever been received from him, and the several 
efforts to send him aid had been unsuccessful. The sym- 
pathies of the humane were enlisted in behalf of the daring 
navigator. Mr. Henry Grinnell, a noble-hearted New 
York merchant, fitted out, at his own expense, an Wftpedi- 
tion which, xmder the command of Lieutenant De Haven, 
of the United States' navy, sailed for the Arctic regions 
in May, 1850. With De Haven went Dr. E. K. Kane, 
in the capacity of surgeon and naturalist. The search 
was unsuccessful, and the vessels returned. 

The United States' Government ^w sent another 1851. 
expedition on the same errand of mercy in connection 
with Mr. GrinnelL The control of this was given to Dr. 
Kane, whose scientific attainments were of a high order, 
and whose prudence and indomitable energy excited high 
hopes of the success of the enterprise. The search was 
fruitless ; the results of the discoveries made have been 
embodied and given to the world. Sir John has no doubt 
long since perished, vvhile his unknown friend. Dr. Kane, 
broken down in health because of his labors and privations, 
has also closed his life. 

Two of our greatest statesmen, with whose names for 
a third of a century are associated some of the most im- 



784 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

*"'lv^' P"^''f^"t measures of the government, passed away. Henry 

Clay and Daniel Webster : The one at Washington, the 

1852. other at his home at Marshfield. 
2g No two men were more endeared to the American 

Oct- people. Henry Clay, by his generous frankness, and 
nobleness of character won their love. Daniel Webster 
in Ins mighty intellect towered above his peers, and com- 
manded their respect ; of him they were proud. 

Spain became alarmed at the attempts of lawless ad- 
venturers striving to wrest Cuba from her hands. France 
and England sympathized with her, and pro2)osed to the 
United States to join with them in a " tripartite treaty," 
in which each should disclaim any intention of seizing 
upon that island, but, on the contrary, should guarantee 
its possession to Spain. A correspondence to this effect 
had already commenced, and to the projwsal Edward 
Everett, who since the death of Webster was Secretary of 
State, replied in the negative. " The President," said he, 
" does not covet the acquisition of Cuba for the United 
States." Yet he " could not see with indifference that 
island fall into the possession of any other European Gov- 
ernment than Spain." It was shown that this was a 
question peculiarly American, from the situation of the 
island itself ; its i)roximity to our shores ; its commanding 
the ajiproach to the Gulf of Mexico, and to the entrance 
to the Mississippi, which with its tributaries forms the 
largest system of internal water-communication in the 
world, and also its ability to interfere with the passage to 
California by the Isthmus route. It was another state- 
ment of the celebrated Monroe doctrine, that the United 
States did not recognize European interference in ques- 
tions purely American. 

For President the Whigs nominated General Scott, 
and the Democrats, Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire. 



DEATH OF WILLIAM R. KING. 785 

The latter was elected, in connection with William K. '^^^^'• 

King, of Alabama, as Vice-President. Mr. King had been 

United States' Senator from that State — with the ex- 1852. 
ception of four years, when he was American minister at 
the court of France — since 1819, compelled by declining 
health he went to Cuba, where he took the oath of office. 
Then he returned home, not to enter upon the duties of 
the Vice-Presidency, but to die. 

To avoid the inconvenience of too great a number of 
members in the House of Representatives, as well as to 
prevent the waste of time in arranging the ratio of its 1850. 
members to the population, it was enacted that after the May 
third of March, 1853, " The House of Eepresentatives 
will consist of two hundred and thirty-three members, 
Provided, that after the apportionment of the Representa- 
tives, under the next or any subsequent census, a new 
State or States shall be admitted into the Union, the 
Representatives assigned to such new State shall be in 
addition to the number of Eepresentatives herein limited, 
which excess over two hundred and thirty-three shall con- 
tinue until the next succeeding census.'' 
.50 



CHAPTER LVI. 

PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Purchase of the MesiUa Valley. — Treaty with Japan. — The Kansas-Ne- 
braska Bill. — The effects of the Measure. — Emigrants to Kansas.— 
Struggles and Conflicts. — James Buchanan, President. — The Contest 
continues in Kansas. — National Progress. 

'^lvl' The new President inaugurated on the 4th of March, 

was a native of New Hampshire, a graduate of Bowdoin 

1853. College, and by profession a lawyer. He had served in 
the legislature of his native State, two terms in the House 
of Eepresentatives at Washington and nearly a term in 
the Senate of the United States. William L. Marcy, of 
New York, was appointed Secretary of State. 

Owing to the incorrectness of the maps used when the 
treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was made, a dispute arose as 
to the proper boundaries between New Mexico and the 
Mexican province of Chihuahua. Both parties claimed 
the MesiUa Valley, said to be fertile, but more important 
for affording facilities for a road to California. Santa 
Jan. Anna, who was again President of the republic of Mexico, 
and intent, as usual, on driving a bargain, took possession 
of the territory in dispute. The United States obtained 
the valley, and the free navigation of the Gulf of Cali- 
fornia and of the river Colorado, to the American boun- 
dary by paying the Mexican government ten millions of 
dollars. 



8. 



TREATY WITH JAPAN THE NEBRASKA BILL. 787 

The acquisition of California made the importance of ^f_y\'- 
commercial treaties with the nations of eastern Asia more 



and more apparent. During Fillmore's term, Commodore 1853. 
Perry, brother of the hero of Lake Erie, was sent with 
a squadron to open communication with the empire of 
Japan. Tbe inhabitants of those islands from time im- 
memorial had excluded foreigners. The authorities were 
greatly astonished at the boldness of the Commodore, 
when he appeared w ith his steamers — the first that ever 
floated on those waters — in the Bay of Jeddo. He was 
ordered to depart ; but he declined and insisted on seeing 
the proper authorities, and making known to them the 
object of his friendly visit. At length a Japanese officer 
appeared, who promised to lay the matter "before the em- 
peror. The 14th of July was the day named to receive 
the letter from the President. 

The Commodore, escorted by a company of marines, 
landed. He was received with the pomp of an oriental 
pageant, and an answer to the letter promised the following 
spring. The answer was received and a treaty concluded. 
The merchants of the United States obtained permission 
to trade in two specified ports — Simodi and Hakodadi — 
and also for the residence of American citizens and con- 
suls at the ports, as well as to visit without molestation 
in the interior, ten or twelve miles. April 

The measure that will render the administration of 
Pierce famous, was the biU to organize the territories of 
Nebraska and Kansas. This was an immense region — 
extending from the confines of Missouri, Iowa and Min- 
nesota te the crest of the Bocky Mountains, and from 
thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, to the 
British possessions. This vast territory was a part of the 
Louisiana Purchase, from which, by the Missouri Com- 
promise, the system of slavery had been excluded. 

In part this region had been assigned to the various 



788 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

™AP. tribes of Indians, who years before, to make way for set- 
tiers, had removed from their lands north-west of the 

1853. Ohio. The white settlers who had gone to that region 
wished that the Indian titles should be extinguished, and 
a territorial government established. 

In accordance with this wish Senator Stephen A. 
J Douglas, of Illinois, proposed a bill in the United States' 

1854. Senate, to organize this region into two territories, to be 
known as Kansas and Nebraska. This bill contained a 
clause repealing the Missouri Compromise, under the plea 
that it " was inconsistent with the principle of non-in- 
tervention by Congress with slavery in the States and 
Territories, as recognized by the compromise measures of 
1850 ; " " it being the true intent of the act to leave the 
people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their 
domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to 
the Constitution of the United States." 

The people were taken by surprise. The question, 
so destructive to national harmony, and which it was 
hoped had been settled forever, had assumed a new form. 
The Missouri Compromise had been deemed a sacred com- 
pact between the south and the north, and as such, for 
the third of a century, had received the sanction of all 
parties. The irritations caused by the fiery discussions 
in Congress four years previous were by no means y^t 
healed. A deep-toned feeling was excited, especially in 
the northern States. 

It was just fifty years since the purchase of the ter- 
ritory, and up to this time nearly all its benefits had been 
enjoyed by those who held slaves. Meantime emigrants 
from the free States had been compelled, from their un- 
willingness to come in contact with slavery, to seek their 
homes and farms north of Missouri, and forego the ad- 
vantages of the genial climate found in the latitude of 
that State. 

These free laborers, as well as those who intended to 



EMIGRANTS TO KANSAS. 789 

seek homes in the west, complained that this region, ^^^^j**- 

guaranteed to them by the Missouri? Compromise, should 

be rendered liable to be made slaveholding. Conventions 1854. 
were held- and petitions poured into both Houses of Con- 
gress, imploring those bodies not to disturb the tranquillity 
of the country, nor violate the compact so long held 
sacred. The Soutli did not participate so much in this 
feeling. 

In reply to these remonstrances it was said, the prin- 
ciijle of " Squatter or Popular Sovereignty," would obviate 
all difSculty ; by this principle the people of the territory 
would be free in their political action, and when they 
came to form their state constitutions, and ask admission 
into the Union, they could exercise this right and adopt 
or reject slavery. With this interpretation the bill passed 
Congress, after nearly four months' discussion, was signed 
by the President, and became the law of the land. Msj 

Now came the struggle to secure the new State by 
sending emigrants, whose votes were to decide the ques- 
tion. Two years before, and not with reference to a con- 
tingency of this kind, the Legislature of Massachusetts 
incorporated a company known as " The Emigrants' Aid 
Society." This association had been inactive, but now its 
aid was invoked, and numbers were assisted to emigrate 
to Kansas. Similar societies were formed in other north- 
ern States. The emigrants from the free States went to 
remain and improve their claims, and foimd homes for 
their families. Emigrants came also from the Southern 
States, but with the exception of those who came from 
Missouri only a limited number have remained in the ter- 
ritory to improve their claims. 

Conflicting opinions soon produced political parties 
known as Pro-Slavery and Free-State, and the practical 
application of the doctiine of " popular sovereignty" was 



790 piSTORT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^LV f' ^PP'^'^^^'i to, to test which party had the majority, and 

according to true deibocracy should rule. 

1854. The first territorial election was held to choose a dele- 

gate to Congress, and four months later — a census in the 

Mar. meantime having been taken and the territory divided 
into districts — another election was held to choose members 
to the Territorial Legislature. In both of these elections, 
the pro-slavery party claimed that they had chosen theii 
candidates, but the free-state men repudiated the elec- 
tion as fraudulent ; giving as a reason that the polls were 
controlled by armed men from Missouri. 

The Territorial Legislature assembled at Pawnee and 

J"'y immediately adjourned to the Shawnee Mission, near the 
Missouri State line. They passed a series of laws, to 
which Governor Keeder refused his signattre, on the 
ground that the Legislature, by the organic act, could not 
change the place of meeting appointed by himself These 
laws were however passed by a two-thirds vote. 

The Free State men held conventious, denied the le- 
gality of the legislature, and refused to obey the laws en- 
acted by it, and made arrangements to choose delegates 
to a Convention to form a Constitution. In due time this 

Oct. Convention assembled at Topeka, framed a Constitution 
rejecting slavery, and ordered it to be submitted to the 
vote of the people, who ratified it. One month later the 
people chose State ofiicers and members for a State Legis- 
lature. Soon after Governor Reeder was removed from 

2*5 ■ his office by the President. 

During these ten months confusion reigned in the 
Territory. Outrages of almost every kind were com- 
mitted, robberies, murders, illegal arrests and property 
destroyed, most of which belonged to the Free State 
settlers. 

Wilson Shannon, of Ohio, who had recently been ap- 
pointed Governor, now appeared and assumed office. He 



CONGKESS APPOINTS A COMMITTEE OF INVESTIGATION. 79] 

declared himself in favor of the laws enacted at the Shaw- ^^^f- 

nee Mission. 

The government, under the Free-State Constitution, 1855. 
was organized, and tlie contest took the form of civil war. jyjj|._ 

4 ' 

At the opening of the session of Congress, the delegate Dec. 
from Kansas, chosen as related above, appeared and de- 
manded his seat. After a spicy discussion the House refused 
the demand, but appointed a committee to proceed to the 
Territory and summon witnesses in relation to the recent 
elections. In a month's time the committee had arrived Mar, 
in Kansas, and commenced the investigation. Their ^^• 
report sustained the charge that those elections had been 
carried by fraud. 

The summer of 1856 was signalized by the commission 
of many outrages, committed in different parts of the Ter- 
ritory. The Free-State men armed themselves, and 
determined to defend their rights. Several conflicts en- 
sued and many lives were lost. Presently Shannon 
received notice of his removal from office, and John W. 
Geary, of Pennsylvania, soon appeared as his successor. 
The new governor honestly labored to restore harmony. 
He ordered " all bodies of men combined, armed, and 
equipped with munitions of war, without authority of the 
government, instantly to disband, and quit the territory." 
Upon this the companies of Free-State men nearly all 
disbanded, but it was only partially obeyed by the other 
party, who had concentrated a force of more than two 
thousand men. The Governor, with the dragoons, threw Sepi 
himself between them and the town of Lawrence and pre- 
vented another conflict. 

The presidential canvass was now in progress. The 
main question at issue — the extension of slavery into the 
Territories or its limitation to the States wherein it 
already existed. 



15. 



792 HISTORT OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 

^fvf' Within a few years political issues had somewhat 

changed. A party known as American, had arisen ; their 

1853. main principle opposition to foreign influence, and their 
motto, " Americans should rule America." The foll<\w- 
ing year they were successful in most of the state elections. 
Meantime arose another party, composed principally of 
Whigs and Democrats, who were opposed to the extension 
of slavery into free territory. They were known as Re- 
puhlicans. On the other hand the Democrats announced 
themselves willing to let slavery go into the territories if 
t e inhabitants thereof desired it. The latter party 
nominated James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania ; the Re- 
publicans, John C. Fremont, of California, and the 
Americans, ex-president Fillmore. 

The canvass was one of more than usual spirit. The 
passage of the Kansas-Nebraska hill had even added new 
interest to the main question at issue. It had taken deep 
hold of the minds of the people ; and they never before 
gave such evidence of their independence, and repudiation 
of mere party ties. 

Mr. Buchanan was elected President, and John 0. 
Breckenridge, of Kentucky, Vice-President. 



Nov. 
1856. 



The House of Representatives at Washington passed 
a bill, declaring the acts of the Territorial Legislature of 
Kansas null and void, both on the ground that its enact- 
ments " were cruel and oppressive," and that " the said 
legislature was not elected by the legal voters of Kansas, 
but was forced upon them by non-residents in violation of 

^®^- the organic act of the territory.'" This bill failed to pass 

1857. the Senate. 

On the 4th of March, Mr. Buchanan was inaugurated 
President. He was educated for the legal profession. 
At the age of twenty-three he served as a member of the 
Legislature of his native State. He was . afterward a 



LECOMPTON CONVENTION. 79S 

member of the House of Kepresentatives ten years ; then *^^^''' 

Minister to Eiissia — sent by General Jackson — tljen a 

member of the Senate of the United States ; then Secre- 3857. 
tary of State, under President Polk, and then Minister to 
Great Britain. Senator Lewis Cass was appointed Secre- 
tary of State, by the new President. 

Under the auspices' jf the Territorial Legislature of 
Kansas an election was ordered for delegates to a conven- 
tion for the purpose of framing a constitution, but under 
conditions to secure a pro-slavery majority of delegates. 
The Free State men, for the reasons already given, as 
well as others, refused to take part in the election. It 
was held, however, and a pro-slavery delegation chosen. June. 
Meanwhile the other party published an address to the 
people of the United States, in which they set forth the 
wrongs they had endured, and to which they were still 
subject. 

Soon after Governor Geary resigned, and the President 
appointed Kobt. J. Walker, of Mississippi. The new 
Governor endeavored to remedy these evils, and promised 
the people of the territory a free expression of their wishes 
at the jjoUs. 

Owing to the influence of Governor Walker the Free 
State men consented to vote at the coming election for a 
delegate to Congress, and members for a Territorial Legis- 
lature. They, by a vote more than two to one, chose their 
candidates. Oct. 

Shortly after this election, the delegates chosen as we 
have seen, met in convention at Lecompton, and speedily 
framed a constitution. It contained a provision adopting 
slavery, and this provision alone, the convention submitted 
to the people of Kansas to ratify or reject. Connected 
with this was a clause which made it necessary for those 
who were challenged at the polls " to take an oath to 
support the constitution if adopted," before they were 



794 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

H'^/' permitted to deposit their vote. This was followed Ly a 

. provieo that the constitution could not be amended before 

185T. the year 1864, and then only by the concurrence of two 
thirds of the members of both Houses of the Legislature, 
and "a majority of all the citizens of the State." 

The Free State men refused to vote on the ratification 
of this constitution, as they denied the authority that 
framed it ; but it received some votes, and was declared 
adopted, and sent as such to Congress. There the discus- 
sion on the subject was as bitter as ever. It was denied 
that the people of Kansas were fairly treated in not 
having the opportunity to vote upon the adoption of the 
entire constitution as implied by the doctrine of " Popular 
Sovereignty," said to be the essence of the Kansas-Ne- 
braska bill. 
Ay)ril Finally, a bill was passed to submit the constitution 

to the people of Kansas, but on two conditions ; one, that 
if they failed to ratify it, they would not be permitted to 
enter the Union until they had a pojjulation of ninety- 
three thousand ; the other, if they did ratify it, they should 
receive certain of the public lands for State purposes. 
In the face of these strange conditions the people of 
1838. Kansas, on the 2d of August, rejected the constitution 
by an overwhelming majority. 

Minnesota was admitted into tiie Union, and allowed 
to have two representatives until the next apportionment 
of members among the several States. 

A change was made in the laws in relation to the 
issue of patents, by which " all patents hereafter granted 
shall remain in force seventeen years from date of issue, 
and all extensions of such patents are hereby prohibited." 

1860. '^'i'^ Eighth Census of the United States sums up 

as follows: Entire population, 31,443,790 ; of whom 
3,953,529 are slaves. 



PARTY PLATFORMS. 795 



CHAP. 
LVl. 



The question of the extension of slavery into the Ter- 
ritories, was by no means decided in the presidential con- ■ 

test of 1856. During the subsequent four years the ■^®^'^'' 
discussion of tlie subject still continued in Congress and 
among the people. In proportion as they read and judged 
for themselves, did party spirit lose its despotic influences, 
and the change in public sentiment, especially in the 
non-slaveholding States, was unprecedented. Many thou- 
sands of intelligent voters, who once acquiesced in the 
policy of the extension of the system, would no longer 
lend their sanction to measures the tendency of which 
they now better understood. 

In view of subsequent events, a more than usual in- 
terest will ever belong to the exposition of principles as 
set forth in what are termed " jdatforms " of the parties 
in nominating their respective candidates for the office of 
President in 1860. 

The Democratic party, at a convention held in Charles- 
ton, South Carolina, became divided into two hostile sec- 
tions — the Breckinridge and Douglas — thus designated 
from their prominent leaders. One section — the Breckin- 
ridge — reaffirmed, with explanatory resolutions, the prin- 
ciples adopted by the entire party four years before at its 
convention held in Cincinnati. They proclaimed the 185C. 
" non-interference of Congress with slavery in the Terri- 
tories or in the District of Columbia," and " The ad- 
mission of new States with or without domestic slavery, 
as they may elect." The other section — Douglas — also 
adopted the Cincinnati platform, and likewise affirmed 
" That as differences of opinion exist in the Democratic 
party as to the nature and extent of the powers of a Ter- 
ritorial Legislature, and as to the powers and duties of 
Congress under the Constitution of the United States over 
the institution of slavery within the Territories," " That 
the party will abide by the decisions of the Supreme 



796 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



CHAP, 
LVI. 



1860. 



Court of the United States on the questions of Constitu- 
tional law." These resolutions are significant. That 
court had recently given an opinion known as the Dred 
Scott Decision, which was now assumed to sanction the 
1849. doctrine, first announced by John C. Calhoun, that the 
Constitution recognized slavery, and sanctioned and pro- 
tected it in the Territories.' On the contrary, the Re- 
publican party denied that this special decision of the 
court had a legitimate bearing on the subject, it being a 
side issue, and therefore null and void ; and now, since 
other means had failed in Kansas, used only to introduce 
covertly the system of human bondage into the Terri- 
tories. The latter party, at their convention held in Chi- 
cago, announced that " the maintenance of the principles 
promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and em- 
bodied in the Federal Constitution, is essential to the 
preservation of our Republican Institutions." " That all 
men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their 
Creator with certain inalienable rights ; " and " That the 
Federal Constitution, the rights of the States and the 
union of the States, must and shall be preserved;" also 
the rights of the States should be maintained inviolate, 
" especially the right of each State to order and control its 
own domestic institutions according to its own judgment 
exclusively." " That the normal condition of all the 
Territory of the United States is that of freedom," and 
they denied " the authority of Congress, of a Territorial 
Legislature, or of individuals, to give legal existence to 
slavery in any Territoiy of the United States." 

Still another party, heretofore mainly known as 
American, now adopted the designation of " Constitu- 
tional Union," and proclaimed as their platform, " The 
Constitution of the country, the union of the States, and 
the enforcement of the laws." 

' See Hist., pp. 774, 775. 



CHAPTER LVII. 
Buchanan's administration — continued. 

Traits of Character, North and South.— Comparative Intelligence in 
the Free and Slave States.— Benevolent Operations. — Foreign Pop- 
ulation. — Material Progress.— Compromises. — Republican Party. — 
Democratic Convention. — Presideutial Election. — Intent of Per- 
sonal Liberty bills. — Union Men. — The Corner-Stone. — Legisla- 
tures and Conventions South. — Non-coercion.-Feeling in the 
Border States. — Finances.— Buchanan's Message. — Fort Sumter 
Occupied by Anderson. — The Preparations. — Yulee's Letter. — No 
Vote of the People Allowed.— Mr. Lincoln's Journey. — Convention 
at Montgomery. — Fallacies — England and Cotton. 

Before entering upon the narrative of the great Eebellion, chap. 
and to fully uuderstand its cause, we must notice certain 1 



influences that have had a share in moulding the character- 
istics of the American people both North and South. 
Though the people of both sections take pride in the same 
ancestry and cling to the same traditions, cherish the same 
love of country and have the same belief in Christianity, 
yet certain influences during a period of two centuries pro- 
duced slightly marked characteristics. The Southern col- 
onists, especially of Virginia and the Carolinas, had their 
notions of rank and aristocracy, and prejudices against the 
descendants of the Anglo-Saxons who settled in the North- 
ern portion of the land. The Northern colonists had their 
prejudices, which grew out of religious differences in the 
mother country. The seven years' struggle of the Revolu- 
tion brought the people nearer together by a bond of sym- 
pathy. The Northern colonists had a better appreciation 



1857. 



798 nisTORT OF the amekigan people. 

ci^P. of education, and tliey labored to extend its influence to all, 

beginning at the most humble, thus eleTating the peo- 

■ pie by making them intelligent aud moral ; and for this 
23urpose they established common schools.* Massachusetts 
and New England were in this respect in contrast with 
Virginia and the Carolinas ; the latter made scarcely an 
effort to educate the children of the poor, providing no 
general system of common school education. Just one 
hundred years before the Declaration of Independence, when 
free schools were established in the New England colonies, 
the Governor of Vii-ginia — Berkeley — thanked the Lord 
there was not a printing-press nor a free school in the 
colony, f Time has shown the effects of these two systems, 
for the habits or customs of the several colonies lasted long 
after the close of the Eevolution. The census of 1860 
shows that the five States of New England liad a popula- 
tion about three times as great as that of Virginia's white 
IJopulation. In the former there were 72,706 persons over 
twenty years of age who could neither read nor write, while 
in Virginia there were 74,055 white persons of the same age 
who could neither read nor write. Some of the other slave 
States had a still larger ratio of illiterates in proportion to 
their number of white inhabitants, while it was forbidden 
by law to teach the slaves to read and write. In the free 
States much of the illiteracy was due to a portion of the 
foreign population and their immediate descendants, while 
in the slave States there were comjiaratively few foreigners. 
Those emigrating from the old to the new States passed 
almost entirely along the same parallels of latitude on which 
they lived in the old States ; and as they carried with them 
their institutions aud habits, the contrast, in respect to 
education and its results, as revealed by the census, was 
equally great between the new free and slave States as tliat 
of the old thirteen. Had common schools been as well sup- 
ported and attended in the slave as in the free States for 

* Hist. pp. 91, 92. + Hist., pp. 104-6. 



THE PEOPLE DECEIVED — BENEVOLENT OPERATIONS. 799 

the last ceutm-y, it is doubtful whether the system of slavery ^^• 

could have reached its vast proportions, and more likely it 

might so far have passed away as not to be a disturbing 
element in the nation, much less that for its protection and 
extension a war should be inaugurated. 

The general iutelligeuce of the Northern portion of the 
country affected its material progress ; the people of mod- 
erate means were self-respecting and industrious, and their 
material progress was continuous from generation to genera- 
tion. In the Southern portion the people of moderate 
means unfortunately labored under great disadvantages. 
They were for the most part wanting in that general intel- 
ligence needed to secure success, and were stigmatized as 
the " white trash." With them industry was an irksome 
necessity, since tiiey looked upon manual labor as the spe- 
cial province of the slave, and therefore degrading. The 
dignity of the intelligent fanner or mechanic, who re<ad 
books, educated his children and obtained knowledge of 
passing events by reading the newspapers, was almost un- 
known to them. This was their great misfortune ; the 
result of a disregard of their interests and their children's 
practiced for generations by their rulers. 

For many years previous to the outbreak of the rebellion 
Northern newspapers not pleasing to certain leaders were 
virtually pi'ohibited in the South, .and by this means it was 
easy to deceive the non-slaveowners in respect to the true 
sentiments of the Northern people. In its influence upon 
society the system of slavery recognized but two classes : 
those who owned slaves and those who did not. The for- 
mer claimed to be the aristocracy, and in their liands were 
the olBces of state. Even wealth invested in lands and , 
slaves gave the possessor a higher social position than the 
same amount acquired by the industry of the merchant or 
any other occupation. 

The mass of the Southern people were grossly deceived 
by those who represented the people of the North as hostile 
to them ; on the contrary, the sympathies of the Christian 



800 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAST PEOPLE. 

CHAP, public of the free States had been unusually drawn out to- 

ward their fellow-citizens of the South. They appreciated 

the difSculties under which they labored ia respect to re- 
ligious privileges ; how they had never been trained, but to 
a very limited extent, either to support schools or the 
preaching of the Gospel. Benevolent societies (such as 
the American Tract, Home Missionary, Sunday School 
Union and others) labored for years to difEuse religious 
truths among the mass of the Southern people, especially 
the whites of moderate meaas, up to the time when their 
efforts were materially interfered with by political leaders 
who wislied the relations of friendship and intercourse with 
the North to cease, as an aid to tlie accomplishment of 
their secret plan to break up the Union. Without going 
into details, these leaders assumed that tlie intercourse be- 
tween the two sections by means of these operations did or 
would interfere with slavery, and their benevolent work 
was gradually restrained to such an extent that wiieu the 
rebellion began it had nearly ceased, although, owing to 
intimate commercial relations, the merchants of Northern 
cities were more than usually liberal in aiding tlie benevo- 
lent and religious institutions of tlie South. Many other 
efforts were made to alienate the Southern people fi'om the 
Northern ; parents were urged not to send their daughters 
to schools or their sous to colleges in the free States ; the 
separation of religious denominations into Southern or 
Northern was looked upon with pleasure by these leaders ; 
as well as the ahenation of churches of the same denomina- 
tion. Only one denomination — the Methodist — divided on 
1844 account of slavery alone ; in accordance with the Discipline 
of that church a bishop has jurisdiction in all the States 
equally, and in this instance a slave-holding bishop became 
the occasion of the division of the denomination into the 
Churches North and South. Likewise, owing to the absence 
of a national system of finances, the moneyed interests of 
the country liad not so great inducement to unite in pre- 
serving the Union as they would have had under a banking 



GROUNDS Of DISSATISFACTION — FOREIGNEKS. 801 

system by means of wliich tlie exchange in commercial chap. 
*j -^ " Lvn, 

transactions between different portions of the Union would 

have been merely nominal. At the commencement of the 
rebellion, and for years i^revious, exchange through the 
medium of indejiendent State banks was a lieavy tax on the 
mercantile interests of the whole country. During these 
years, it is true, a comparative few — the Abolitionists — 
labored to enlighten the people, especially of the free States, 
on the moral as^Dects of slavery ; and for these reasons, 
regardless of consequences, they wished to abolish the sys- 
tem as a great wrong. It was not till the deliberate firing 
on Sumter revealed its true spirit that the mass of intelli- 
gent peoijle in tlie North recognized fully its deadly hostility 
to right and justice. This truth, like an intuition, flashed 
in their minds and conscience, and at once increased the 
number of its enemies a tiiousand-fold. Though the great 
majority of the people believed the system to be a moral, 
political and economical evil, they were perplexed as to the 
remedies to bo applied in its removal. It was the farthest 
from their intentions that it should bo removed by the hor- 
I'ors of war. They thought of no other means tlian moral, 
'and certainly not by infringing the right of the slaveowner 
as guaranteed by the Constitution and tlie laws made 
under it. They hoped that the humane spirit of Christian- 
ity would finally abolish tlie system ; but in truth the 
enactments of laws on the subject in'^he slave States were 
becoming harsher and harsher every year. It remained for 
the slaveowners to place themselves in a jjosition which rid 
the country of the evil. 

Another ground of dissatisfaction was the progress of 
the free States in material wealth and population. From 
about 1835 there had been a large emigration from the Old 
World, chiefly from Ireland, and mostly unskilled laborers ; 
nearly all these settled in the free States, where tliey found 
employment principally in digging .canals and building 
railroads. Scarcely any of these made their home in the 
States where slavery existed, because of tlie stigma resting 



802 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, upon manual labor, aud also of the lack of enterprise in 

'- tliat section to furnish them employment. Meanwhile the 

1844. intelligence and industry of the free States were carrying 
them far in advance in the enterprises of mining, manufac- 
turing and commerce. They had taken possession of the 
region north of the Oliio and east of the Great River, and 
of the nortiiwest. These plains were covered witii farms, 
and immense crops were harvested by means of machinery 
requiring not one eighth as many laborers as under the old 
system — the sickle and the scythe. An outlet had been 
obtained for their grains to Europe, almost a rival of 
cotton as an article of commerce. Thus the progress of 
the free States, as revealed every ten years by the census, 
was unparalleled ; and in consequence of the increase of 
inhabitants tiiey had in the same ratio increased their 
number of members in the House of Eepresentativcs, 
Thongli in 1860 the slaves had twenty representatives in the 
House, and these elected by their owners, yet the majority 
of the members from the free States was overwlielming, 
and could never be overcome, bui, was increasing from 
census to census, while tlie equality of members iu the 
Senate was gone forever. The leaders foreseeing this result 
— the termination of their power to rule the National Gov- 
ernment — determined to change their tactics in order to 
secure their ends. 

In accordance with the seutiment held by the people 
of the free States of non-interference with slavery iu the 
States where it existed, Congress in no instance ever 
passed a law that was intended to thus interfere; while 
the Territories, the common property of the whole Union, 
were governed under the Constitution by Congress alone, 
by means of laws of its ovrn enactment, and by officers 
legally appointed by the President. Tlie disposal of these 
Territories was thus given to Congress as the common 
property of the nation, nnder the control of the repre- 
sentatives of the whole people; and, as in other cases, in 
accordance with the cardinal principle of the National 



COMPROMISES. 803 



1841 



Government, that the majority should rule. Hitherto, "gj^?' 
when differences of opinion or policy occurred, the diffi- 
culties were arranged by compromises. Such was the case 
in the famous Missouri Compromise.' And in the days 
of South Carolina nullification by a compromise in i-espect 
to the tariff.'^ In the annexation of Texas, a Territory 
more than five times as great as that of New York or 
Pennsylvania, the same spirit prevailed ; and that Terri- 
tory was handed over to the slaveholders for their exclusive 
benefit, though it had cost thousands of precious lives in 
the war which ensued with Mexico, and an immense 
amount of national treasure. This concession was made 
by the free States, when every intelligent person knew that 
the profit would inure to the slave States alone, and to 
the extension of their system of enforced labor. Tiie 
acquisition of California was not then in contemplation, 
and this concession was an exhibition of good will by the 
North toward the South. The population of Texas, 
though its territory was so extensive, would only entitle 
her to come into tlie Union as a single State, and not five, 
into which it could bo divided in accordance with the 
articles of annexation.^ But California, owing to peculiar 
circumstances, soon acquired the requisite population to 
make a State, and was admitted into the Union ; her 
people by their vote prohibiting slavery, preserving the 
balance of power between the free and the slave States 
in the United States Senate. With this result the advo- 
cates of slavery were not satisfied, and they resolved to 
make another attempt to secure the coveted majority. 
The plan now adopted was to repeal the Missouri Compro- 
mise,* which had i-emained intact for thirty-four years, 
and secure for their purpose the region west of that State. 
This repeal raised the question, especially in the free 
States. Will the advocates of slavery never be satisfied ? 
Are the politicians, for personal ambition, to keep the 

'Hist. pp. 618-651. -"Hist. pp. G65-8. 

^Hist. pp. .690-1. 'Hist. pp. 788-9 and 793. 



804 HISTOKT OP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

ci^AP- nation contiiinally embroiled in this question? Ifc was 

-_ only about ten years since Texas had been yielded to the 

' slave owners — and yet the cry was for more territory! 

The people of the free States, as they could not restore 
the "Missouri Compromise," were forced to accept the 
"squatter sovereignty" theory, and they put it in jiractice 
by sending settlers to Kansas Territory who intended to 
make it their home and that of their children ; and, com- 
plying with the law in word and in spirit, wlien the time 
came they voted to come into the Union a free State.* 
These various measures to extend the system of servitude 
into the Territories excited an unusual resistance in the 
free Stales, and a party was formed — the Rcjmblican — to 
prevent by legal means that result. The pledges of the 
new party were not to interfere witli the institution in the 
States, but only treat it, in respect to the Territories, as 
Congress had been accustomed to treat other questions, 
subject to the will of the majority, in accordance with the 
received notions of the true rule of the jieople. And in 
good faith the free States accepted the princii)]e tliat the 
inhabitants of a Territory about to become a State might 
determine for tliemselvcs whether it should come in free 
or slave. It was fondly hoped this would end the contro- 
versy. The slaveholders were still unsatisfied, and they 
}irepared to carry out their plans of seceding ft'om the 
Union. The census of 1860 was about to show a still 
greater increase of population in the free States, and in 
consequence a still greater majority in the House ; while 
the ratio of tiieir material prosperity was greater than 
ever. The same year Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, was 
elected President, and Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, Vice 
President. This was proclaimed a sectional election, for 
the express purpose of destroying slavery and ruining the 
South. It is proper to notice the means used to obtain 
this result, 

*Hi3t. p. 793. 



PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION". 805 

Plans were laid to secede long before the time the 9^i? 



1860. 



political parties were accustomed to make their nomina- 
tions, and it was openly proclaimed that if an "Abolition- 
ist" — thus designating a Republican — should be elected, 
the slave States would secede. When the Democratic 
Convention assembled at Charleston, South Carolina, for 
the purpose of nominating a candidate for the presidency, 
it was soon discovered that -ulterior views were entertained 
by certain members from the extreme Southern States. 
These demanded of their fellow members from the free 
States expression on the subject of slavery contrary to 
their convictions, and tliey also endeavored to repudiate 
Mr. Douglas, the most popular candidate of the party 
in the free States. The disunlonists, unable to enforce 
their own plans, seceded from the Convention, and thus 
prevented a nomination. The united Democratic party 
could, with ease, have elected their candidate, but should 
he not be a pronounced secessionist the Southern wing 
determined to divide the party, and thus secure the 
election of a Eepublican, and seize upon that as a pretext 
for breaking up the TJuion. 

The Convention thus disorganized did not make a nom- 
ination, but adjourned to meet at Baltimore June 18th, and 
the seceders to meet at Eichmond, June 11th: Mr. Douglas 
was nominated by the conservatives, and John C. Brecken- 
ridge by the seceders, or disuuionists. 

The candidates for the presidency were now Abraham 
Lincoln, of Illinois, nominated by the Rcj)ublicans; Stephen 
A. Douglas, of the same State, John C. Breckenridge, of 
Kentucky, and John Bell, of Tennessee, on a platform of 
the " Union and the Constitution." On the sixth of 
November the election was held and Mr. Lincoln was :isrov, 
chosen, he having 180 electoral votes; Mr. Breckenridge 72, ^■ 
Mr. Bell 30, and Mr. Douglas 12. Of the popular vote Mr. 
Lincoln, 1,857,610; Mr. Douglas, 1,365,976; Mr. Brecken- 
ridge, 847,953, and Mr. Bell 590,631. Owing to the 
system of electing by States, Mr. Lincoln had a majority of 



806 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, the electoral vote, while he had only a plurality of the popu- 
lar vote, and Mr. Douglas had only 13 electoral votes to Mr. 



■ Breckenridge's T'-i, while the former's majority over the lat- 
ter in the popular vote was more than half a million. It is 
supposed that not more than two-thirds of the popular vote 
for Breckenridge really desired secession, and then the vote 
in favor of Union was nearly seven to one; and even if they 
all desired it, the vote was then about four and a half to 
one. 

Tiie election of Mr. Lincoln was hailed with joy by the 
secessionists, especially in Charleston, South Carolina, 
which city had been foremost in these hostile demonstra- 
tions against the National Government. A State Conven- 
tion, as soon as the result of the presidential election was 
known, assembled in Charleston, and declared that "the 
union before existing between South Carolina and other 
States under the name of the United States of America was 
dissolved." Tlie sympathizers of the movement in the 
" Cotton States" sent telegraphic messages of congratula- 
tion to South Carolina on her prompt action in seceding, 
and also promised aid ; this was done to manufacture pub- 
lic sentiment. The stratagem did not fully succeed, the 
mass of the Southern people were by no means in favor of 
the disruption of tlie Union ; tiie moderate men urged that 
nothing should be done harshly or hurriedly, their sentiment 
was: "wait till Mi'. Lincoln is inaugurated, and commits 
the overt act." Virginia urged that time should be given 
for an effort in Congress to obtain certain measures ; such 
as the repeal of the Personal Liberty bills in some of the free 
States ; and a pledge that the fugitive slave law would be 
henceforth moi'c promptly enforced ; and the concession 
that tlie Constitution authorized slavery in the territories, 
and the protection of slaves as propei'ty. 

Tiic secessionists did not charge that the presidential 
election was unfair or illegal, but they assumed that the 
administration about to come into power would do some- 
thing especially against slavery. The "Cotton States'' 



PERSONAL LIBERTY BILLS — THE UNION MEN. 807 

complained bitterly that the Fugitive Slave Law was not ^hap. 

promptly enforced in the free States, but was obstructed by ■ 

the Personal liberty bills ; yet, the truth was, veiiy few slaves ' 

from the Cotton States ever reached the free States. The 
runaways were from the border States, who were not 
so strenuous ou the subject as to wish, on that account, to 
break up the Uniou, but proposed to remedy the evil com- 
plained of by influencing Congress. Tlie Personal Liberty 
bills in the free States were a dictate of humanity and were 
designed to accomplish two objects : one, to j^rotect the 
colored freemen of the free States from kidnaping, and the 
other to secure to those who were charged with fleeing from 
slavery a fair and impartial trial as guaranteed to every per- 
son by the Constitution of the United States. If it was 
established that the person thus seized had escaped from 
service, tiiese laws did not forbid the rendition of the fugi- 
tive to the person claiming such service. The Fugitive 
Slave law consigned tlie person thus seized to a commis- 
sioner to be handed over to slavery in such haste as to ex- 
clude him from the benefit of a fair trial, at the place of 
his resideuce, where he was known and could obtain wit- 
nesses. 

Meantime, by high handed measures the Union men in 
the Cotton States were gradually coerced and rendered 
almost powerless under the persistent efforts of the seces- 
sionists. Throughout the slave States the non-slaveowners, 
almost universally, were Union men, and opposed to seces- 
sion, and looked upon the war of the rebellion as designed 
, by those who commenced it to perpetuate and'extend that 
' system. In voting, when they had opportunity they re- 
jected the principle of secession ; neither did they, as a class, 
enter tlie rebel army until forced into its ranks by an unre- 
lenting conscription. 

It is strange' that these leaders were unable or unwilling 
to see that the decline, which was noticeable forty years 
before, of the material prosperity of the slave States, was 
owing to that wasijef ul system ; and still more strange that in 



808 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, tlie face of these facts they were continually devising means 

to extend a system of labor which failed to give them success 

■ as a people. An exponent of the basis of the confederacy 

may be found in an address by its Vice President and ablest 

statesman, A. H. Stephens ; he proclaims the true condition 

„^ of the negro to be that of servitude as an inferior beiuff : 
1861. 
Mar. alluding to the United States Constitution and its framers 

^^- he said : " This stone (slavery) which was rejected by the 

first builders is become the chief stone of the corner in our 

new edilicc." And these disunionists went to war to protect 

and extend slavery ; the National Government, as a matter 

of defense, to protect the public properly and to defend the 

Union of the States. 

The Governors of the States of Sovith Carolina, Georgia, 
Mississippi, Virginia, Louisiana, and Alabama took measures 
to have special sessions of the Legislatures called, or to have 
conventions held the members of which were to be elected 
by the people. The States of North Carolina and Arkan- 
sas did not take action by their .Legislatures, as the ma- 
jority of the people were opposed to secession. Thus was 
Tennessee also loyal to the Union. This loyalty was 
greatly strengthened by Andrew Johnson in the United 
States Senate and Emerson Etheridge in the House. 

The doctrine that the President could not coerce a 
State was strenuously urged as a political truth ; and it 
gave the disunionists great encouragement to know tliat 
Mr. Buchanan, the President, was understood to hold that 
opinion, hence it became necessary to press matters in 
order to complete the secession movement before Mr. Lin- 
coln's inauguration. Meetings to promote the cau.se were 
held in prominent places in the Cotton States, and the 
most remarkable misrepresentations were put forth in 
respect to the action and tlie sentiments of the people of 
the free States ; and these passed without contradiction, 
for that was prevented by the exclusion of Northern decla- 
rations to the contrary and Northern newspapers. It is 



FBELIKG 11^ TJJE BOEDER STATES 809 

not Strange that by these means the people, especially the chap. 
least intelligent, were grossly deceived. 

The majority of the peoiDlc of the border States was 
opposed to these disunion measures ; they knew that in 
case of war between the two sections they must suffer most 
from their geographical position, and they did not wish to 
be made a shield for their rash neighbors. These secession 
measures were planned and carried out by comparatirely 
very few men, the people scarcely having an opportunity 
to take action on the subject. When the Colonies com- 
plained to England the people had the opportunity of 
freely expressing their views. 

The events transpiring had an influence upon the 
finances of the country. Business began to decline, and 
capital, ever sensitive, to withdraw from investment. The 
vast quantities of merchandise on hand were thrown upon 
the market both by the importer and the domestic manu- 
facturer. Early in November almost the only trade with 
the South was that of fire-arms ; and former debts from 
that section were unpaid, while exchange was so high as to j^^^^_ 
be almost ruinous to the honorable Southern merchants 
who wished to pay their Northern creditors. Meanwhile 
some of the Southern State Legislatures authorized the 
suspension of specie payments by the banks, and also a 
suspension of payments of debts due Nortliern creditors. 
This state of trade affected the National Government, and 
it was forced to borrow money at high rates of interest to 
pay the cui-rent expenses. 

The forts, arsenals, and navy-yards in the South had 
very few soldiers in them to protect the United States 
property ; only eighty men were in Fort Moultrie in 
Charleston Harbor, whei'e, from indications, would be the 
first assault upon the authority of the Government. The 
venerable Lieutenant-Geueral Scott urged the President for 
permission to throw a sufficient number of men into the 
fort to defend it from any attack the insurgents might 
jnake. But in vain. The President in his timidity and 



810 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, trammels of party would not comply with tliis patriotic 



1860. 



request. The loyal people were astounded at this apathy 
or remission of duty. 

The Legislature of South Carolina provided for the 
military defense of the State ; they were heneefortli to be 
"a people Imppy, prosperous, and free." TLe a:i-my and 
navy officers — natives of the State, more than sixty in 
number— were urged to resign their commissions and join 
the ranks of secession. '"Vigilance Associations" were 
formed tl) rough out the State; these assumed "full power 
to decide all eases that might be brought before them," 
" power to arrest all suspicious white persons aud bring 
them before the Executive Committee for trial," to jiut 
• down all negro preachings, prayer-meetings, and all con- 
gregations of negroes, that they (the Associations) might 
deem unlawful. Under these committees great numbers — 
because they were from the North — of men and women, 
teacliers, preachers, travelers, and others were driven from 
the State. 
Dec. Tlie second session of the 3Gth Congress began, and 

^- President Buclianan sent in his Annual Message, in which 
he ascribed the existing evils between the States to the 
'' violent agitation of the slavery question throughout the 
North for the last quarter of a century, which had at 
length produced its malign influence on the slaves, and 
inspired them with some vague notions of freedom."' He 
announced that the revenue must be collected ; he denied 
the right of a State to secede, but he had no authority 
under the Constitution to coerce a State — a doctrine very 
consoling to those who had entered upon the treasonable 
attempt to break up the Union. He suggested that the 
late election of President did not afEord just cause for dis- 
solving the Union ; that the incoming President could not, 
if he wished, interfere with slavery ; he was the executor 
of the laws, not the maker nor the expounder. These 
facts the disunion leaders well knew, but they were encour- 
aged by this announcement of non-coercion to urge the 



OCCUPATION OF FORT SUMTEK. . 811 

slave States into secession before the new President was ^^\l- 



1860. 



inaugurated. 

Discussions continued in both Houses of Congress ; 
resolutions in great numbers were introduced by the mem- 
bers, to be referred to the Committee of Tbirty-three, 
which had been ai)pointcd on the state of .the country, 
Tbese resolutions show the state of feeling of the members 
on the subject, and indeed of all the people, their constitu- 
ents. Efforts were made by the committee to arrive at a 
satisfactory result by guaranteeing what the slaveowners 
desired, but it was soon seen that all conciliatory measures 
were vain; the secessionists did not want compromises; 
nothing short of absolute separation would satisfy them; 
and tb.e thinking portion of the people saw that no conces- 
sions would avert the calamity of an attempt to destroy the 
Union. 

Floyd, the Secretary of War, early in December passed 
over to the Governor of South Carolina the United States 
arsenal at Charleston under the pi-etext of preventing its 
being seized by the mob. Here were 70,000 stand of arms, 
the quotas designed for several Southern States. On the 
day on which South Carolina seceded ho sent an order to 
the commandant of the Alleghany arsenal, near Pittsburg. S4.' 
'■■ to ship 78 guns to Newport, near Galveston, Texas, and 
46 guns to Ship Island, near Balize, at the mouth of the 
Mississippi river. " These forts were far from being finished 
or ready for their guns, but they were to be slyly transferred 
to the secessionists. The loyal people of Pittsburg pro- 
tested against the shipment and tlie President counter- 
manded the order. These guns were ten and eight-inch 
coUinibiads, the largest and finest in the country. 

Three days after South Carolina seceded Major Robert 
Anderson, who was in command of the forts in Charleston p. 
Harbor, dismantling Fort Moultrie, spiking the guns and 37. 
bui-ning the carriages, evacuated it, taking with him its 
munitions of war, and occupied Fort Sumter. Prudence 
dictated this transfer, as no reinforcements came and Fort 



812 HISTORT OF THE AMEKICAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP- Moultrie could easily be taken on the land side, as that was 
unfortified. Castle Pinckney, another fort, was dismantled 



1860 • ^1 

m the same manner. 

Tliis movement created the most intense excitement 
throughout the land ; the loyal portion thinking it an indi- 
cation that the government intended to resist the insurgents. 
In the South the spirit of rebellion was more than eyer 
rampant. The leaders professed to believe this the first 
advance in "coercing" a State. Major Anderson had only 
sevcuty-nine effective men, but in that little band were no 
traitors. 

Forts Moultrie and Pinckney were at once occupied by 
the State militia, under orders from Governor Pickens. 
These were armed from the United States arsenal. It had 
been proclaimed that ''our young men will do the storming 
and escalading ; our slaves will raise the crops, and make 
our ditches, glacis, and earthworks for our defense." In 
accordance with this, more than a thousand negroes, sent 
by their masters, were put to work to repair the forts and 
mount guns. This could easily have been prevented by 
shells from Fort Sumter's guns, but Major Anderson had 
orders to act only on the defensive. Soon as possible com- 
missioners from Charleston came to Washington and de- 
manded of the President either to order Major Anderson to 
evacuate all the forts in the harbor or reoccupy Fort Moul- 
trie ! This demand, so arrogant in its manner and terms, 
was not granted. From this time onward the "vigilance 
committees" were a greater terror than ever to the Union 
men and women, especially those of Northern birth. The 
atrocities inflicted upon them and the free negroes would 
seem incredible in this age, if the si^irit which inspired 
them is not recognized. 

The Collector of the Port of Charleston began to pay 
over to the State authorities the duties he collected. The 
President resolved to collect the duties on shipboard by 
sending a revenue cutter to lie off the harbor. He removed 
the Collector from oflBce and nominated another ; this nom- 



COLLECTOR OF THE POET OF CHAELESTON — TULEE S LETTEE. 813 

ination lie sent to the Senate for confirmatiou, but it was ^^h^f- 
reiected by means of a few Northern Democratic Senators — ■ — 
aiding those from the Soutli. 

At a caucus lield at Washington by the Senators from Jan. 
seyen of the Southern States it was resolved to assume, for ''• 
the present, the political control, and also the military 
affairs, of the South ; to advise the calling of a convention 
of delegates from these seceding States, to meet at Mont- 
gomery on the 13th of tlie following February : to coerce 
the border States to secede, and in some way influence 
Maryland into a conflict witli tlie National Government. 
They were of the opinion that by remaining in the Senate, 
though their States had seceded, they might prevent the 
passage of any measures such as the Volunteer, Force, or 
Loan bills, and thus disable the incoming administration 
from defending the Government's authority. In a letter* 
written from Wasliington, and dated January 7th, Yulce, 
one of the Senators from Florida, says, in speaking of the 
above bills: "Whereas, by i-emaining in our j)laces until 
the 4th of March, it is thought wo can keep the hands of 
Ml'. Buchanan tied and disable the Eepublicans from effect- 
ing any legislation wliich will strengthen the hands of the 
incoming administration." Yet tliese Senators were at this 
very time under oatli to support the Constitution and the 
Government. They assumed tliat Mr. Lincoln would be 
compelled to wait until a special session of the new Con- 
gress could assemble in order to vote supplies, authorize tlie 
necessary military expenses and calls for volunteers. 

These- leaders in only one State, South Carolina, per- 
mitted the people to vote direct on the subject of secession. 
The conventions, to which the people elected delegates 
with the understanding that their action was to be sub- 
mitted to them for their approval or rejection, took tlie 
responsibility to pass ordinances of secession, upon which 
they did not dare giro the people an opportunity to ]iass 

* This letter, among other documents, was fouufl at Fernan- 
dina, Florida, by the Union forces. 



814 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 



CHAP. 
LVII. 

1816. 



judgment by their vote. This was contrary to their own 
constitutional form of making organic changes in their 
own State government. Only one State — Louisiana — in 
the entire South paid its own postage. The annual 
expense of carrying tlie mails in those States averaged 
annually about three and a half million of dollars more 
than the postage collected. This, however, was not 
assumed as one of the grounds of secession. 

The difficulties of the Kansas question, wliich had 
lasted over five years, were at length ended by that Terri- 

Jan. tory being admitted into the Union as a free State. A 
montli later the Territories, Nevada, Colorado, and Daco- 
tah, were organized. Congress by its silence on the subject 
■ leaving the question of slavery to be acted upon by the 
people tliemselves, when they should apply for admission 
into the Union. 

Though the President elect had designed to journey in 
as quiet manner as possible from his home in Springfield, 
Illinois, to Washington, yet by the great anxiety of the 
people to see hira he was induced to travel more slowly 
and to visit various places on the route. The Legislatures 
of the States tlirough which he was to pass cordially 
invited him to visit their assemblies and become their 

Feb. guest. On the morning of his leaving home his neighbors 
!-• crowded to the depot to bid him farewell. He made a 
feeling address, in the course of which he said: "My 
friends, no one not in my jiosition can appreciate the 
sadness T feel at this parting. A duty devolves upon me 
which is, perhaps, greater than that which has devolved 
upon any other man since the days of Washington. He 
never would have succeeded except for the aid of Divine 
Providence ujron which at all times he relied. I feel that 
I can not succeed without the same Divine aid which 
sustained him. I hope you, my friends, will all pray that 
I may receive that same Divine assistance, with which 
success is certain." He traveled slowly by special trains 
to Washington ; at all stations, towns and cities, throngs of 



Lincoln's jouknet — confederate constitution. 815 

people welcomed him, showing an intense interest, for at chap. 

no time previous had a Chief Magistrate entered upon his 

office in circumstances so perilous to the nation. ' 

Delegates from six of the seceded States assembled in 
Convention at Montgomery, Alabama, to frame a constitu- Feb. 
tion for the Confederacy. They copied very closely that of 
the United States, only introducing articles in rcsf)ect to 
slaves and slavery ; sanctioning the idea of property in man, 
which idea Madison and the other fathers of the United 
States Constitution repudiated. The Constitution of the 
Confederate States in one article reads; "No bill of at- 
tainder, or ex-jiost facto Imv, or law denying or impairing 
the right of property in negro slaves, shall be passed." 
The convention established a provisional government and 
elected Jefferson Davis President, and A. H. Stephens, of 
Georgia, Vice-President. These were duly inaugurated, 
Davis making an address in which he assumed the right of Yeh. 
the seceding States to take possession of the United States 18. 
forts and property within their boundaries and settle for 
them afterward; that "the commercial world had an in- 
terest in our exports (meaning cotton) scarcely less thf.n our 
own ;" he suggested " tiie well known resources for retalia- 
tion ui)on the commerce of an enemy." — One of the most 
remarkable fallacies with which the disunion leaders de- 
ceived themselves was that England would aid them mate- 
rially in order to obtain cotton for her factories. Though 
the governing classes in that country, with but few excep- 
tions, gave the rebellion their sympathy, yet they were too 
politic to enter upon wra* to obtain cotton from these 
States when it could be had from other sources at a little 
greater expense. At this result tlie disappointment of the 
leaders of the Confederacy was beyond exjjression. On a 
par with this want of wisdom were their mistaken views of 
the character of the people of the free States. They seemed 
to forget that the industrial activity aad energy which they 
had displayed in their onward progress would now be ap- 
plied to putting down a rebellion. 



CHAP TEE LVIII. 

Lincoln's administration. 

The Inauguration. — Eif ect of the Inaugural. — Bomliardment of Sum- 
ter. — The President's Call for Volunteers. — The Responses. — Riot 
in Baltimore. — The Spirit of Loyalty. — Confederate Congress at 
Richmoud. — Feeling in Missouri and Kentucky. — Advance into 
Virginia — Col. Ellsworth's Death. — Proclamatic^us of Generals. — 
Instructions to United States Ministers Abroad.— English Neu- 
trality.— Big BHhel Skirmish.— West Virginia's Loyalty.— Enemy 
Driven Out.— Battle of Bull Rim.— The Effect.- UiMouri — BstUe 
of WiUo 's Crpelj. — Death of General Lyon — Kentucky's Legi;- 
li'tion. — Finmcesand the Army.— Bill's Bluff Disaster. — Ilatteras 
Expedition, — Margin and Slidell.— Battle of Bflmont. — The In- 
vasion of Kentucky. — Battle of Mill Spring. — Davis's Special 
Message. — Meeting of Congress. —The Union Ar:ny. — Edwin .\1. 
Stanton. — Capture of Ports Ile.-jry and Don':lson. — Confederate 
Retreat. 

CHAP. The day of Mr. Lincoln's inau2,"iiratlon drew near : as it 

'- approached the painful suspense and anxiety of the people 

Mar ii^creased. Rumors were afloat of plots to prevent the new 
4. President from assuming office, and indeed of threatened 
injury to his person. The military were called out under 
tlie orders of General Scott ; the first time in our history ' 
tliought necessary to protect a Chief Magistrate from 
banded conspirators. In his inaugural the President an- 
nounced that he should enforce the laws of the Union in 
accordance with his oath of office. "The power confided to 
me will be used to hold, occupy and possess the property and 
places belonging to the government, and collect the duties 
and imposts." Alluding to the secessionists, he says : "Tlie 



INFLUEN'CE OF THE INATTGURAL — THE CABINET. 817 

government will not assail you ; you can liave no conflict f^AP. 

without being yourselves the aggressors." His manner 

betokened a man cool and determined, but of kindly in- 
stincts, and one who fully appreciated the novelty of his 
situation. The inaugural gave universal satisfaction, except 
to those who, from their open or secret opposition to the 
government, would not approve its sentiments of loyalty. 
It strengthened the Union men of the South and created 
a very favorable impression in the Border States. But the 
secessionists proclaimed it was a war measure, and the 
Confederate government issued orders for the people to 
prepare for the conflict. The Southei-n newspapers more 
fully expressed the views of the disunion leaders. They 
urged immediate action ; in the Border States they etx- 
pressed opposition to "coercion" — a favorite term of 
those who wished to gain time for the inauguration of re- 
bellion. Mr. Lincoln's priucipal cabinet oEBcers were : 
William H. Seward, of New York, Secretary of State ; 
Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, Secretary of Treasury ; Simon 
Cameron, of Pennsylvania. Secretary of War; Gideon 
Welles, of Connecticut, Secretary of Navy. 

The Confederate government endeavored to "coerce" 
the Border States to join them, by prohibiting the importa- 
tion of slaves into the Confederacy from the United States, 
"except by persons emigrating thereto for the purpose of ^Far. 
settlement or residence." This was specially aimed at 
Virginia, for the sale of surplus negroes from that State to 
the Cotton States averaged annually nearly ten million 
dollars. This law would materially affect that portion of 
the State east of the mountains, where the slaves were 
numerous, but not the portion west, where there were but 
few, and where the people were almost universally in favor 
of preserving the integrity of the Union. 

The Confederate authorities desired, by means of com- 
missioners, to treat as an independent nation with the 
United States government ; but as such they were not 
recognized. 



818 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



CHAP. The inaugural gave encouragement to tbe Union senti- 

— ment in tlie Border States. Kentucky refused to call a 

■ State Convention ; Tennessee, by a majority of 50,000, 
resolved to remain in the Union ; North Carolina appeared 
to be more loyal than ever, and even Virginia began to 
show strong attachment to the old order of things, but her 
people were not permitted to have a voice in their own 
destiny. 

From the inauguration onward for some weeks. Fort 
Sumter was the subject of much anxiety botli South and 
North ; the former with hopes it would be evacuated, the 
latter for the most part that it might be maintained, and its 
garrison reinforced, and above all that there should be no 
concessions to men with arms in their hands, setting the 
authority of the government at defiance. Mr. Lincoln, 
slow and cautious in judgment, determined tJiat Sumter 
should not be evacuated but defended, and let the responsi- 
bility rest upon those who should make the attaclc. The 
United States Senate, then in session, was sMo opposed to 
the withdrawal of the garrison. 

A similar scene occured in the harbor of Pensacola. 
Lieutenant Slemmer evacuated Fort MeRae and passed over 
to Fort Pickens, which, by the almost superhuman exer- 
tions of his men and with aid of marines from the ships 
of war off the harbor, he fortified and held the enemy 
at defiance. During the night, boats with muflifid oars 
brought liim provisions and munitions and men, landing 
them safely on the island on which stood the Fort. 

The government resolved to send provisions to Sumter ; 
preparations for this pui-pose were made in the port of New 
York. At Charleston, General G. T. Beauregard, unmo- 
lested by Anderson, had been for weeks fortifying points on 
the harbor to prevent ships entering, and also to attack 
Sumter if not. surrendered. President Lincoln sent a mes- 
senger to inform Governor Pickens of his intention of 
sending provisions to the garrison of Fort Sumter. The 
steward of the Fort had been warned a few days before 



DAVIS PEEPLEXED — BOMBARDMENT OF SUMTEK. 819 

that he would not be permitted to purchase fresh provisions chap. 

in the Charleston market. '. 

Beauregard telegraphed to Jeffej-son Davis, at Mont- ^^'^^' 
gomery, the information received from President Lincoln, Apr. 
The rebel Cabinet was deeply agitated ; should they take ^• 
the awful responsibility of commencing civil war ? After 
two days came a telegram directing Beauregard to demand 
the surrender of the fort as soon as possible. The demand 
was made with the promise of facilities for transporting ^ 

the troops and their private property. Major Anderson 
courteously i-efused to surrender his trust, incidentally 
remarking to the messengers — Beauregard's aids— that his -^P'- 
provisions would last only for a few daj's. This refusal ' '^ 
, w^s telegraphed to Davis, and also the remark in respect 
to the provisions. Davis replied, saying : '' If Major 
Anderson will state the time at which, as indicated by 
him. he will evacuate, and agree that in the meantime he 
will not use his guns against us, unless ours should be 
employed against Fort Sumter, you are thus to avoid 
the effusion of blood." "If this or its equivalent be 
refused, reduce the fort as your judgment deems to be 
most practicable." This was in substance communicated 
to Major Anderson, who replied, that unless he had orders 
from his Government or supplies he would evacuate by 
noon on the ISfh instant. This was answered by the 
" aids," that by the authority of General Beaui-egard they Apr. 
informed him fire would be opened upon Fort Sumter in g 30 
one llour from that time. a.m. 

Promptly at. the time indicated, April 12th, 4.20 a.m., 
a 'mortar on Sullivan Island gave the signal. This was 
followed by one gnu from each of five batteries and a 
floating iron-clad. After a pause of a few moments fifty 
guns in concert threw forth their solid shot and shell upon 
the devoted Sumter and its garrison of seventy men. No 
reply was made; the men were ordered out of danger; at 
six o'clock breakfast was served ; the men were then 
detailed under their respective otEcer«, with the intention 



820 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, of relieving each otlior from time to time. Tlio fii'st 

^ detail, under Captain Arthur Douhloday. fired the first gun 

at 7 A.M.. then for nearly tlnve hours solid shot had been 
I>ouring in. and shells were bursting every minute within 
the iuelosure. The parapet gnus, after a few rounds, were 
left, as the exposure was too great to man them. The men 
of the seeoud and thiixl details or reliefs refused to wait 
their turns, but insisttxi on joining in the fight ; and so 
vigorous were the diseharges from Sumter that the rcbels 
thought the fort must have been reiufoived. All were 
inspired with pitriotic zeal; even some Irish lahorei-s joined 
in with their native ardor for a fight. Presently one of the 
officers heard tiie report of a gun on tlie parapet ; going to 
see, he found a company of the laborers amusing them- 
selves in that exposed place by firing at the enemy. One 
of them exclaimed with great glee that he had hit the 
floating bat'tery in the center. The soldiers characterized 
them as the *' Irish Irregulars." During Friday night the 
mortar batteries kept up their fire to prevent the garrison 
making repairs, and at dawn all the guns opened. Xow 
was fii-ed red-hot balls, which set the barracks on fii-e, blew 
np one niag;i7,ine and endaufreivd another, so that to avoid 
farther danger ninety bari-els of powder were rolled into 
the sea. The heat and smoke became stifling, yet the 
brave fellows fought on breathing through wet cloths. 
For thirty-four hours had the bombai-dment Listed, when a 
boiit was seen approaching from Fort Moultrie bearing a 
Xpr. whito flag. Xegotiafions bepiu. and Anderson agreed to 
^"'- evacuate the fort. The troops were transferred to the 
Baltic steamer, which brought them to Xew York. Xo 
one of the Fniou soldiers nor of the rebels was killed in 
the conflict. Major Anderson from on board the steamer 
sent his report to Washington. After describing the ruin 
of the fort, he says in conclusion: " The troops marched out 
with colors flying and drums beating, bringing away com- 
pany :vnd private property, and saluting their flag with fifty 

ffUUS." 



THK rslRKKJiVKK — THE 'J.'..', OLCfTEKKS. 821 

The firing on Fort Somter fired the Northern heart. JBap 

The ID-fall to the flag and the nation bad marreloos effect 

upon the rninda of the people. Bj this act the Msceaaotaeta 
bad alienated more or lesci their mo«it inflnential friend-; in 
the non-alaTeholdirig Sute$! ; coald they liare foretold the 
oatbarit of mingled ssorrov and indignation that aroee from 
all claisrei) of jiersoni!, titer woald nerer bare fired npoa 
Fort Sumter wiihont proTocatkm. The hitherto spofo- 
thizens with the demandu of the slave owners now, with 
but comf/aratiTelj few exofqition-i, were aa oat^>ken in 
conrlemnation of the act aa thoi>e who bad for jeara opposed 
those demand*. 

There was an indescril/able feeling of emotion perrading 
the mind^ of all ; one impmbe eeemed to more milHons as 
one man ; a r|aiet detennination of porpoee took pcegecrioD 
Off the people more jjowerfnl than if it bad been demooittra- 
tire. The news of the attack and eorrender bad been seat 
to whererer the telegraph extended, and cot the day — the 
Sabbath — the solemnity of the worshipeTS waa deep and 
ail-absorbing. Earnest prayers went up from the polpits 
and were earnestly responded to from the congregations, for 
the nation and for direction in thia roomentooi crisis. 
Thia gingle act in a few ghort boars bad made rival politk^ 
partisans a band of brothers; prejodices melted away 
before the beat of an orerwhelming love of country, as if 
they had nerer reflected upcm ita bl^ginge, until tbe at- 
tempt waa made to destroy its unity. 

On Monday morning came the President's proclamation Apr. 
calling for T5//Xi men to serve for three months to enforce 
the law-i which had been oppo^ "and their ezecntion 
obatracted in the States of 5}outh Carolina, Georgia, Ala- 
bama, Florida, ili^^gippi, Loni-nana and Texas." 

An appeal wa^ made to all loyal citizen?, to maintain 
the honor, the int^rity, and tbe existenc-e of tbe Xational 
Union. Eesponsea to this appeal came at once from tbe 
loyal States ; rolunteer; were offered by thousands ; espe- 
cially prompt were tbe States of Pennsylvania, Massacba- 



1861. 



822 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, setts, New York and Obio. These anticipating this state 
of affairs had by legislative enacttnent placed their militia 
in a condition for prompt action. 

From the governors of the slave States — Kentucky, 
Missouri, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkan- 
sas — came resjjonses within a few days, all refusing to send 
their quotas of men, Virginia, North Carolina and Tennes- 
see threatening to resist any attempt at " coercion" on the 
part of the National G-overnraent. This was more the 
sentiment of the individual governors of these States than 
of the majority of tlie people, as it was afterward shown. 
Every governor of the Border States was in favor of the 
secessionists except Governor Hicks, of Maryland. So 
deeply was the plot laid that at first the National authorities 
were taken at great disadvantage, the usual case with re- 
bellions; the insurgents were prepared and therefore at first 
successful. 

Never before in the free States was there such an exhi- 
bition of love of couuti'y. The people were intelligent and 
familiar witli the merits of the question at issue — union or 
disunion — and acted accordingly. The flag — the symbol of 
a united nation — -became almost an idol ; it floated from 
church steeples, from public buildings, from private houses, 
from mast heads ; it decorated the shops and ofiices along 
the streets ; the drayman put it on his horse and the engi- 
neer on his locomotive, while its beautiful colors were 
blended in rosettes and ribbons worn by matrons and mai- 
dens — all these manifestations told that the hearts of the 
people were with the government- 
Pennsylvania, being the nearest, was the first to place 
men in Washington ; six hundred of whom arrived there in 
four days after the call was issued. Massachusetts was 
really the first in the field in respect to readiness ; her men 
were finely di'illed and armed, and within twenty-four hours 
after the telegram brought the call for troops nearly every 
company of the four regiments called for were in Boston 



PROMPTNESS OF VOLUNTEERS — THE ATTACK IN BALTIMORE. 823 



1861. 



rendy to a:arch. The meu left tlieir workshops,, stores and £^^j^- 
farms at a minute's warning. 

Benjamin F. Butler was commissioned Brigadier-General 
of Volunteers, and ordered to Washington with two regi- 
ments, the Sixth and Eighth ; the Third and. Fourth were 
sent by sea in steamers to Fortress Monroe, thus securing ' 
that important place to the nation. The Sixth, in passing 
through Baltimore, was attacked by a mob in the interest of 
secession, and thi'ee of the men were killed — the first blood 
shed in the great rebellion. This was the anniversary of 
the battle of Lexington, April 19th, 1775, and the nation -^P'- 
entered upon a secoud struggle as a prelude to a still greater 
career of humane and industrial progress, to a higher plane 
of a Chiistianized ciyilization. It took eight years of war 
to establish our independence, and it took four years of war 
to make us a united people, in the course of wliich was 
removed the greatest drawback to the whole nation's pi'og- 
ress. 

The spirit of loyalty in the free States continued to 
furnish men and means to sustain the cause. In less than 
a month more than $23,000,000 were given as a free offer- 
ing to the Government, and volunteers' :^r beyond the num- 
ber called for. 

Lieutenant Jones, in command at Hai-per's Ferry, learn- 
ed that a force of about 3.000 Virginians were on their way j^pj 
to pillage the armoiy. As he had but fifty men, he pru- !*•• 
dently destroyed all the war material, blew up the magazine 
and withdrew to Carlisle, Pa. The following day the U. S. 
Navy-yard at Gosport, near Norfolk, was destroyed. Satis- 
factory reasons for this wanton destruction of property, 
amounting to many millions' worth, have never been given. 
The yard could have been defended with prompt action. 
About 2,000 cannon were thus furnished to the insurgents, 
which they used during the whole war. 

Threats were frequently made by newspapers and ijublic 
men in the interest of the slave States that Washington 
would soon be in the hands of the insurgents. Their 



824 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



CHAP, authoiities made the most strenuous exertions to increase 

^ and organize ;m army. JefEerson Davis first called for 

'^'^*'^' 22,000 men, and soon again for 20,000 more. Their Con- 
gress met in called session, and resolved to remove their 
seat of government from Montgomery to Richmond, intend- 
ing, tio doubt, to "coerce" Virginia to pass an ordinance 
May of secession, which the majority of the peojjle of the State 
■ in an impartial vote would evidently oppose, Virginia's 
self-constituted authorities handed her over, and she was 
graciously received into the Confederacy by this Congress, 
just assembled at Richmond. But the people were prom- 
ised the privilege of voting on this illegal ordinance of 
secession on the 23d instant; howevg^, before that day 
came, all persons expressing Union sentiments were either 
driven out of the eastern portion of the State or compelled 
to hold their peace. Even the Mayor of Richmond, by 
proclamation, enjoined the people to inform him of any 
persons suspected of being Union in their symj^athies (and 
Northern female teaciiers were advised by one of the news- 
papers not to talk). The election by the people was a farce. 
The portion of the State west of the Blue Ridge was 
almost free of slaves and could not be "dragooned" into 
secession ; the people there understood the question, and 
did not choose to fight in the cause, hence they refused to 
answer the call for troops by Governor Letcher for the 
Southern confederacy ; they also took measures to become 
separate from the Eastern portion, and in a short time 
formed a new State known as West Virginia, which as such 
June in due time was iidmitted into the Union. The national 
^^- government threw a protecting force into the new State 
under General George B. McClellan, and speedily West Vir- 
ginia was as free from armed secessionists as old Virginia of 
Unionists. 

In Tennessee the people's vote was disregarded, though 
by a majority of 50,000 they had decided against secession, 
yet the legislature led by Isham G. Harris, the governor, in 
secret session adopted the Constitution of the Confederate 



I 



-ODTKAGES. 825 

States : Upon this act the people were invited to vote on ^^^■ 

the 8th of the nest month. Meantime, as customary, a 

1 ftfii 
series of outrages were perpetrated on the Union men, to 

prevent their voting against the usurpation. Arl^ansas also May 

by resolution of a Convention declared herself out of the 

Union. The Convention proceeded to pass laws by which 

all moneys due Northern creditors were to be paid into 

the treasury of the State. 

The governor of Missouri — Claiborne F. Jackson — was a 
secessionist, and refused to furnish troops in response to 
President Lincoln's requisition. But the peojile themselves, 
under the leadership of Franli P. Blair and B. Gratz Brown, 
raised in two months nearly 10,000 men." Captain Nathan- 
iel Lyon, who was in command at St. Louis, suddenly sur- 
rounded a rebel camp — Fort Jackson — and captured every 
man. These had assembled under the pretence of preserv- 
ing the peace of tlie State, and had been drilling for weeks ; 
their arms having been secretly sent them from Baton 
Rouge, Louisiana, whence they had been taken from the 
United States Arsenal. • Previous to this, the energetic 
Captain Lyon, under orders from Washington, had trans- 
feri-ed the arms and war material from the arsenal at St. 
Louis to Springfield, Illinois. The German element in the 
population of St. Louis stood bravely for the Union in this 
crisis. 

Kentucky hesitated. She wanted to be neutral,but that 
policy was soon seen to be impossible. Under the influence 
of John C. Breckenridge, her young men were, for the 
most part, in favor of aiding the insurgent States. Mass 
meetings were, however, held in different places, and the 
most influential men of middle life and upward eame out 
in favor of the Union. Kentucky was only saved by the 
presence of nearly 30,000 volunteers from the free States 
over the Ohio river ; in truth Maryland and Missouri were 
also saved to the Union by their nearness to the free States. 

Prom the frequent reconnoisances and surveys made by 
the confederates it was evident they intended to fortify the 



826 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



1861. 



CHAP, heights of Arlington, of Georgetown and Alexandria, across 
the river from Washington ; tliey had already occupied 
many points on the upper Potomac, ready to pass over into 
Maryland. The insurgent leaders in the Cotton States had 
sent several thousand soldiers to this army nov? threatening 
the National Capital. These leaders had determined, as 
some of tlieir papers indiscreetly stated, to make the border 
States, especially Virginia, the battle ground. Tliey were 
willing to plunge the nation into war, but were anxious to 
have others sutler the cousequences. Howell Cobb, the 
recent Secretary of the Treasury under Buchanan, said in a 
speech: "The people of the Gulf States need have no ap- 
prehension ; they might go on with their planting and their 
other business as usual ; the war would not come to their 
section ; its theater would be along the borders of the Ohio 
river and in Virginia." In truth the Old Dominion was 
sadly desolated ; for four years, over her soil army after 
army passed and repassed. The devastation was inaugura- 
ted by the Confederates themselves, lest any sustenance or 
shelter should be found for the ITniou soldiers. 

General Scott anticipated the movements of the enemy 
by sending 10,000 troops in three divisions at 2 A. si. to 
seize the heights and fortify them. The Orange and 
Manassas railroad was seized, and on it a train having on 
board 300 Confederate soldiers, who were captured. Alex- 
May andria was also occupied. In this town over the " Marshall 
House " had floated for weeks a secession flag, which could 
be seen from tlie President's mansion, and to which it was 
given out the flag was designed as a taunt. Colonel Elmer 
'Ellswortli, of the Zouaves, seeing tlie flag floating, deter- 
mined to get possession of it. He ascended to the roof, 
pulled down the flag, and when descending was shot and 
instantly killed by the proprietor of the house, who a 
moment after was shot dead by a private soldier who had 
accompanied the Colonel. The death of young Ellsworth 
was felt tliroughout the land, as he possessed remarkable 
qualities as a commander and disciplinarian. 



24. 



CONCILIATOET SPIRIT — BEAUEEGAED'S PEOCLAMATION. 827 

General Irwin McDowell, in command of tbe Union £S^?- 



1861. 



forces, issued a proclamation in which he enjoined all the 
officers to make " statements of the amount, kind and 
value of all private property taken or used for government 
purposes, and the damage done in any way to private prop- 
erty, that justice niay be done alike to jOTvate citizens and 
government." This is given to show the conciliatory spirit 
of the National Government ; these regulations were en- 
forced. Beauregard, in command of the Confederates, a 
few days later issued a counter-proclamation to the Virginia 
people in which he said: "A reckless and unprincipled 
tyrant has invaded your soil. Abraham Lincoln, regardless 
of all moral, legal and constitutional restraints, has thrown 
his Abolition hosts among you, who are murdering and 
impressing your citizens, confiscating and destroying your 
property, and committing other acts of violence and out- 
rage too shocking and revolting to humanity to be enum- 
erated." It is due to the truth of history that these facts 
should be noticed, as it was by such gross misrepresentations 
tbe mass of the peojjle of the South were deceived before 
and during the war. 

' The Secretary of State, Mr. Seward, announced to our 
ministei's abroad the policy of the Government in relation 
to foreign intervention. To Charles Francis Adams, at the 
British Court, he wrote : •' You will make no admissions of ^*y 
weakness in our Constitution, or any apprehensions on the 
part of the Government." " You will in no ease listen to 
any suggestions of compromises by this Government under 
foreign auspices with its discontented citizens." To Mr. 
Dayton, Minister to France, he said : " The President 
neither exijects nor desires any intervention, nor even any 
favor, from the government of France or any other in the 
emergency." " If several European States should combine 
in that inteiTention, the President and the people of the 
United States deem the Union, which would then be at 
stake, worth all the cost and all the sacrifice of a contest 



828 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PKOPLB. 

CHAP, with all the world in arms if such a contest should prove 

inevitable." 

1861. ji^ respect to the blockade the Secretary wrote to Mr. 
Adams : " You say that by our own laws, and the laws of 
nations, this Government has a clear right to suppress 
insurrection. An exclusion of commerce from National 
2L ports, which have been seized by insurgents in the equitable 
form of blockade, is a proper means to that end. You will 
not insist that our blockade is to be respected if it is not 
maintained by a competent force ; yon will add that the 
blockade is now, and it will continue to be so maintained, 
and therefore wo expect it to be respected by Great 
Britain." 

The astonishment of the American people at the posi- 
tion taken by England almost equaled their indignation. 
For many years invectives wittiout nnmber were thrown 
upon them, especially those of the free States, by influen- 
tial persons in England, because they did not take political 
measures to abolish slavery, and thus violate the com- 
promises of tlie Constitution made in other days, when the 
moral, political and economical evils of tlie system were not 
so well known. 

But now, when the slave States had entered upon a war 
to protect and extend slavery, they had. with few excep- 
tions, the full sympathy of the ruling class of England. 
Swift sailing vessels and steamers, with little hindrance on 
the part of the government, were fitted out from her ports 
laden with munitions of war to aid the Eebollion. The 
Queen, or ratlier the government, issued a proclamation 
of professed neutrality, jmtting the Confederates on the 
same footing as tlie United States Government. The 
cotton manufacturers and the iron interests, representing 
many millions of money, and employing several hundred 
thousand operatives, were in favor of recognizing the Con- 
federacy. The former of these were nearly mined by the 
want of cotton, which was cut off by tlie blockade, and the 
latter by the loss of the American market, as tlie tariffs 



BIG BETHEL — NATIONAL FORCE IN WEST VIRGINIA. 829 

imposed to meet the extraordinary expenses incurred by the PSA?- 
civil war had also given the American iron-masters reasons 

1 ftfil 

to extend their works, and they soon were able to supply ' 

the wants of the country. 

General B. P. Butler was transferred from Baltimore 
to Fortress Monroe. The Confederates, under General 
Magruder, occupied prominent points commanding the 
approaches to Richmond, while Yorktown and Gloucester May 
Point were also fortified. General Butler resolved, by a ^^^ 
night movement, to surprise and capture two positions of 
the enemy in the vicinity — Little Bethel and Big Bethel. 
The latter the stronger, and under the immediate command 
of Magruder. Tiie plan was well arranged, and the troops j 
set out on their night march, in order to attack Little ll. 
Bethel at daylight. But two of the regiments came into 
collision, by some mistake made in the darkness, and fired 
into each other till the mistake was discovered. This firing 
gave information to the enemy, and those in Little Bethel 
hastily retreated to the larger and better fortified position. 
Meantime, the other portion of the Fed.eral troops hearing 
the filing, fell back, lest they should be taken in flank. In 
the morning the disappointed Federals came together ; a 
conference was held, and it was rashly determined to attack 
Big Bethel, whose gnns commanded the approach. The 
result was a repulse, as might have been expected, yet the 
soldiers, some of whom had only been under arms a few 
weeks, stood the fire well. Here fell two of the most 
accomplished men in the command — Lieutenant Greble, of 
the United States Artillery, and Theodore Winthrop, secre- 
tary and aid to General Butler. 

An election held in West Virginia shows that the great 
majority of the people of that section were true and loyal to 
the National Government. A few days afterward a force 
was thrown across the Ohio at several points. This force 
made short work with the armed enemy of West Virginia; 
driving out both them and the troops sent to their aid by 
the Confederacy. 



830 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. General McClellan opened the campaign by issuing a 

'- proclamation, in which was promised protection to the lives 

and propei'ty of the Union men from the armed enemy who 
May were preying upon them. Grafton, an important point at 
^^* the junction of the Baltimore and Ohio Kailway with that 
of Northwest Virginia, was occupied by the enemy, who, 
hearing of the advance, evacuated that place, after destroy- 
ing, as far as possible, culverts and railway bridges. The 
next place was Philippi, where the enemy were routed and 
scattered in a spirited fight, they leaving all their muni- 
tions ; they, however, made a strenuous but unsuccessful 
attemiit to recover their lost ground. A great deal of 
leniency was shown to the disloyal portion of the inhabits 
* ants, which policy they but little appreciated. A Confeder- 
ate force was concentrated at Eich Mountain; though 
strongly entrenched, Genei'al Rosecrans attacked them so 
vigorously that, under General Pegram, they retreated in 
the night in order to reach General Garnet's main force at 
June Laurel Hill ; but they became entangled in the woods, and 
food failing, sis hundred of them surrendered as prisoners 
of war. "When this was known. General Garnet rapidly 
retreated, throwing away his superfluous baggage. He 
passed along Cheat Eiver, hoping by means of by-paths to 
reach the Valley of the Shenandoah. Though he impeded 
the pursuers by breaking down bridges and felling trees 
across the road, yet in spite of these obstructions the Union 
forces overtook him at Carrick's Ford. Garnet here made a 
stand to confront his indefatigable pursuers. He had taken a 
strong position on a hill whose base was densely covered by 
a jungle of laurel bushes ; with him were 2.000 men, and a 
reserve of 3,000 men in the rear. Rosecrans made a dem- 
onstration in front at the Ford, while a portion of his men, 
by a flank movement, groped their way through the jungle 
and to the top of the hill, and with a shout rushed on the 
enemy, captured one of the guns commanding the Ford, 
TiBp ^^^ drove them before them. Garnet behaved with 
13. great bravery, but presently fell pierced by a rifle ball. 



BULL Rxm. 831 

Then his men, panic-striclcen, fled in confusion, and reach- PS^?- 



1861. 



ing the reserves in the rear, the panic was communicated 
to them and they also iied, only one regiment of Georgians 
making a short stand. These prisoners were treated with 
great kindness, clothed and fed, and unwisely permitted to 
simply take the oath of allegiance to the United States 
Government and then dismissed. Large numbers of these 
men, violating their oath, were soon found in tlie Confeder- 
ate ranks. The rebel loss in these conflicts was about 1,500 
killed, wounded and prisoners, while the Union loss was 
only 20 killed and 60 wounded. 

General McClellau was relieved and ordered to Washing- July 
ton ; General Eosecrans taking command of the Union ^^■ 
forces in West Virginia. 

Preparations were made for a general advance of the 
troops in the vicinity of Washington early in July. The 
troops under General Patterson on tbe Upper Potomac ; 
those under MeClellan — the extreme right — from West Vir- 
ginia ; and the forces under McDowell extending along the 
river opposite Washington ; these all were to advance and 
gradually contract their lines around Eichmond. The plan 
was General Scott's. General McDowell was to move direct 
upon Manassas Junction, on the railroad twenty-seven miles 
from Alexandria,' an important strategic position held by 
the rebels. General Patterson had ali'eady moved from 
Chambersburg, Pa., and reached the Potomac and passed 
over, General Joe Johnston, in command of the Confeder- June 
ates in the Valley of the Shenandoah, falling back, after 
destroying what was left of the armory at Harper's Ferry 
and transferring the machinery to Richmond, there to be 
used in the service of the rebellion to the close of the war. 

Patterson also issued his proclamation, promising pro- 
tection to loyal men and private property, and the troops 
were enjoined to sujipress any insurrection of the slaves. 
Euin was found along the pathway of the retreating Con- 
federate army ; it was they who inaugurated the system of 
desolating the country through which they passed, nor till 



16. 



832 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN TEOPLE. 

CHAP, tlie next year was any retaliation practiced by the Federal 



armies, and tliat but seldom. 



Pattersoa had about 23,000 men, but he seemed to act 
without a fixed purpose or design ; for some unexplained 
reason l)e recrossed the Potomac and fell back to Hagers- 
is"^ town, lie said in consequence of orders from Washington, 
and the enemy returned to the soutli side of the rivei-. 
Then again he crossed the Potomac at WilHamsport, and 
appeared to hesitate, taking no responsibility. The cam- 
July paigu seemed aimless. The enemy now fell back beyond 
2- Martinsburg toward "Winchester, where Johnston was said 
to have an army of 15,000 men well supplied v,'ith artillery. 
Patterson occupied Martinsburg. His orders were to press 
Johnston and prevent his reinforcing Beauregard at Manas- 
sas ; but he hesitated, and soon it was discovered that 
Johnston and his whole army had marched southward, yet 
July he lingered till he heard of the disaster at Bull Kun. The 
^^- Government should have put in command of these troops 
a regularly educated military officer, and not have risked 
so much by entrusting them to incompetent hands. 

Meantime the Union troo])s were moving toward Manas- 
sas Junction, the enemy inaking but little I'csistanco and 
falling back till they made a stand at Blackburn's Ford at 
Bull liun Creek, which they strongly fortified. McDowell 
resolved to tuin the enemy's position and reach the Manas- 
sas Gap Railway, and thus intercept reinforcements from 
Winchester, as he fully expected Puttersou to hold John- 
ston in check so that he could not bring aid to Beaure- 
gard. 

McDowell made his arrangements to flank the enemy by 
crossing the creek at other fords. Parties sent out to 
reconnoitre on Saturday reported they had heard steam- 
whistles and the distant rumblings of railroad trains. It 
was learned after the battle that these trains had brought a 
portion of Johnston's forces. 
. The various divisions of the Union army, but not in 

21. perfect concert, advanced to cross the fords. Owing to 



BULL RUN. 838 

want of discipline some of these divisions were behind the £^^j^- 

time appointed — daylight — to cross the fords nearly three ■ 

hotirs. Of this want of concert the enemy availed them- 
selves. They soon discovered the attack in front was a 
feint, and from that point they withdrew large detachments 
to be used elsewhere. The contest was a brave one on 
botli sides, but desultory in the extreme, as might be 
expected from inexperienced me\i, nine-tenths of whom 
were going into battle for the first time. In different parts 
of the field the Confederates were driven from time to time 
and would recover ; batteries of cannon changed bands more 
than once. Finally the Federals drove the enemy nearly 
two miles, and deemed the victoiy won. The Union troops 
had been in. motion from 3 a.m., and had been fighting 
from ten o'clock, and at 3 p.m., were resting when they 
were surprised and suddenly attacked by about 5,000 troops 
fresh from a train from Winchester. At this crisis the 
other Confederates, thus encouraged, renewed the conflict 
with vigor. The Union forces were thrown into con- 
fusion and retreated in disorder, and being undisciplined 
could not be as a whole effectually rallied. Yet individual 
regiments one after another stood in the way and fought 
gallantly, retarding the advance of the rebels till the strag- 
glers could retire to the rear. While the soldiers of both 
armies were inexperienced and but jiartially disciplined, 
they fought worthy of their fathers. The Union forces 
lost 481 killed and 1,011 wounded, the Confederates 296 
killed and 1,533 wounded. This success of the insurgents 
made known to the people of the free States that the rebel- 
lion could only be put down by hard fighting. " Beaure- 
gard's victory at Manassas Junction insjiired the Confede- 
rates with such confidence that they had not doubted for a 
single instant but that the North had received a mortal 
blow." " But a few men, such as General Lee and General 
Joe Johnston and others, alone recognized the vital impor- 
tance of the struggle in which they were engaged, and they 



834 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAK PEOPLE. 

Lvm' ^^^^^'l ^"^^ t° warn the Southern people against their foolish 



1861. 



imprudence. ' 

Missouri being a Border State, the people were much 
divided, but the majority were in favor of the union, 
especially miglit this be said of the entire German popula- 
tion. Governor Jackson had fled from the capital at Jef- 

June ferson City after issuing a flaming proclamation calling for 
13. 50,000 men to repel thfe invaders, meaning the U. S. 
troops under Captain Lyon. The Govenior liad slipped oS 
up the river with steamers laden with the State ordnance. 
The energetic Lyon went in pursuit in steamers the same 
evening, and sent troops by land in tlie same direction to 
seize railroads and protect bridges and to intercept the fugi- 
tive governor and .his adherents, the main body moving to 
Rolla, the then terminus of the South Pacific railway. 

Lyon first .stopped at the capital and installed a Military 
Governor, Colonel Boernstein, then with three steamers, on 
board of which were troops and field artillery, he continued 
the pursuit, landing near Booneville, a few miles below 
where Jackson and Sterling Price, a former governor of the 
State, had made an entrenched camp, and had a motley 
crowd, composed largely of the " Border rufiians " we have 
seen in the Kansas diflBculties. After landing Lyon 
marched at once to as.sault the camp, but met the enemy on 
their way to oppose his landing ; he immediately attacked 
them and after a few minutes they fled, taking refuge in 
their camp ; this they also soon abandoned, scattering in 

J all directions. About 40 of them were killed and great 

17. numbers made prisoners. Jackson and Price both fled 

toward the South, where they expected to join troops 

from Arkansas and Texas under General Eains and the 

famous Texan ranger, Ben McCullough. 

Lyon was sadly in waut of reinforcements, but as all the 
troops were at that time sent to protect Washington, he 
was compelled to pursue the enemy with insufficient force. 

' Childe'8 Life of Lee, p. 60. 



THE REBEL RETREAT — SIGEL's MASTERLY RETRiiAT. 835 



1861. 



He sent forward Colonel Franz Sigel, who soon arrived at chap. 
Springfield, in the south-western portion of the State ; 
thence he advanced rapidly toward Carthage, to find all tlie 
insurgents united under Jackson, Price, and other chiefs. 
Though the enemy numbered 5,500 and a battery of five 
guns, and Sigel's force only 1,500 men and eight guns, two 
of wliieh were twelve pounders, yet he did not hesitate to 
attack. He found them drawn up on a rising ground on the 
prairie ; that morning they expected, as they expressed it, 
"to wipe out the Dutch hirelings." The battle com- 
menced and the centre guns of the rebels were soon 
silenced, and they pulled down the secession flag and raised 
that of the State ; upon this Sigel's men were unwilling to 
fire. Presently the rebel cavalry, being very numerous, 
began to outflank the Unionists and Sigel fell back to 
protect his train. He held the enemy in check, pouring in 
at the proper moment " a shower of canister and shrr.pnel 
shell" until he reached Springfield, in spite of the hordes 
of enemies around him. .The next day the insurgents were 
reinforced by about 5,000 Texans under Ben McCullough. 
Five days after the battle General Lyon arrived at Spring- 
field, which place tlio enemy almost surrounded. 

The Missouri State Convention, largely composed of 
Union men, took action by electing provisional State offi- July 
'cers. The people of the State respected the authority of 
the convention. 

General Lyon ascertained that the enemy, 23,000 strong, 
were concentrating at Wilson's Ci-eek ten miles south of 
Springfield, and were preparing some onward movement. 
He resolved to anticipate them. The entire Federal force 
marched from their entrenchments at Springfield in two 
divisions — the one under Lyon, the otlier under Sigel — to 
surprise the enemy before they made their advance. Lyon 
was to attack the front at daylight, and Sigel the rear at Aug 
the same time Both were prompt, and one of the fiercest 
battles thus far began ; in front the enemy were driven from 
the field. Lyon greatly exposed himself and was wounded 



836 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

Evm.' twice. The enemy rallied tin J made a desperate effort to re 
. „. gaiu what they had lost but were most severely repulsed by 
the cool determination of the lowans, who lying close on 
the brow of a hill let their foe come within 40 feet before 
firing upon them. They recoiled in confiisiou and finally 
fell back down the hill. It was seen that tlicy were about 
to make another attempt, and Lyon desired his men to charge 
bayonets as soon as they liad discharged tiieir pieces. " Wlio 
will lead us?" exclaimed the men. " I will myself," said the 
general. "Come on. my brave men." The enemy came np 
but only fired and did not wait for tlie bayonet charge but 
fled down the hill. General Lyon was killed by this dis- 
charge. He was universally regretted, being one of tlie 
most accomplished officers in the United States Army. 
Meantime General Sigel was also successful in driving 
the enemy before him, but was at length greatly out- 
numbered by a rebel force retreating from the front and 
compelled to retreat, losing five cannons, three of which the 
soldiers spiked. This was a drawn battle. The Union 
army lost 263 killed and 731 wounded ; the rebels, 421 killed 
and more than a thousand wounded. The Union army 
under Major Sturgis fell back to Springfield, and finally 
to Eolla, the terminus of the railway, holding the enemy at 
bay, who now overran Southern Missouri, driving the Union 
•men from their homes and inllaging tlie people generally. ' 
General J. 0. Fremont assumed command in Missouri 
about the last of July. 

Tlie rebels pushed their line of devastation up to Lex- 
ington on the Missouri Eiver. This place was defended in 
the most heroic manner by Colonel Mulligan and his " Lish 
Brigade"— of 2,640 men, — but finally, when the enemy 
increased to nearly 20,000, he surrendered. This was but a 
Oct. barren victory, as the rebels were compelled to retreat rap- 
idly toward the south, pursued by Fremont, who, after 
commencing the fortification of St. Louis, and organizing ' 
the forces already in the State and those collected at h.is call 
from other State?, had taken the field (Sept. 26) himself. 



IG 



THE I^ISH BRIGADE — A PROCLAMATION'. 837 

Fremont was crippled for want of transportation, arms, £^|^p- 

clotlilng-, and men. Yet, at a critical moment came to him 

an order from the Secretary of War and General Scott "to 
send 5,000 well-armed infantry to Washington without a 
moment's delay." Fremont, too, had issued a proclama- 
tion, in which he had declared the Stale under martial 
law ; threatening, among the penalties, the freedom of the 
insurgents' slaves. The latter clause offended those of the 
Union men who owned slaves, and at the suggestion of 
President Lincoln he modified that clause to read, "all 
slaves who have been employed on rebel military works." -^^^^ 
But it raised a clamor among the politicians that did not 12. 
cease till Fremont was suspended, when General Halleck 
assumed command of the " Department of the West." 

Fremont's career at tlie West was brief — only one hun- 
dred days; but, being a man of military instincts and ^^J*' 
training, he showed in that time a sagacity which was not 
allowed fair practical development. In that brief time he 
was the iirst to suggest and inaugurate the following jirac- 
tices, then widely decried, but without which the war 
would not have been successfully concluded : the free use 
of cavalry (strongly opposed by General Scott and others) ; 
exchange of prisoners with the enemy; fortification of 
large cities, to allow armies to take the field ; building of 
river gun-boats for interior operations at the West; and, 
the emancipation of the slaves. In short, he contributed 
more than is generally credited to him. 

After the Union disaster at Bull Eun the rebel authori- 
ties endeavored to regain West Virginia; sending a large 
force under Henry A. Wise and John B. Floyd. The latter 
was defeated by Eosecrans at Carnifex Fcriy on Gauley 
Eiver, but under favor of darkness fled, liis men leaving all 
their munitions except what they could carry. General 
•Eobert E. Lee was sent with 9,000 men to drive the Fed- 
erals from Cheat Mountain, but after several conflicts he ^'P^ 
was defeated and compelled to retreat east. 

Kentucky in a recent election for Members of Congress 



838 HISTOKT OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, had shown herself loyal by a majority of 55,000 ; though 

her Governor, MacGoflBn, was a secessionist, and so was 

jyl ■ General Buckner, the commander of the State Guards. 
1. The latter, treacherously betraying his trust, went over to 
the support of the rebellion. John 0. Breckenridge, who 
was in the United States Senate, and so much exercised 
because President Lincoln, as he argued, had violated the 
Constitution in calling out the 75,000 men to enforce the 
laws, threw all his influence in favor of the enemy, thus 
more than usual corrupting the loyalty of the young men of 
the State. 
Sept. qijig Legislature met and passed laws over the Governor's 
veto to furnish money to arm the State against invasion on 
either side, and preserve her neutrality ; that pliautom soon 
. vanished. A hostile force advanced from Tennessee, and 
taking possession fortified two points on the Ohio river — 
Hickman and Chalk Bluffs. On the same day General Zol- 
licoffer, with an army occupied Cumberland Gap, in the 
eastern part of tlie State, intending thereby to cut off the 
Union men of East Tennessee from aid either from Ken- 
tuclcy or tlie Federal army.. This eonceiied movement 
made it plain to the most obtuse that the Confederates, as 
had been their selfish plan, were, in order to save the 
"Cotton States," about to make the Border States the 
battle-field. 

General U. S. Grant, who was in command at Cairo, 
111., at the mouth of the Ohio, immediately telegraphed the 
fact of the rebel invasion to the Kentucky Legislature, 
then ia session. That body at once passed a resolution 
inviting General Robert Anderson, of Sumter memory, to 
enter upon his duties in the " Department of Kentucky," 
to which he had been assigned by President Lincoln. 
Thus far there were no United States troops stationed in 
the State, and the only soldiers were enlisted Kentuckians. 
Grant did not wait for orders, but at once passed over 
6^ ' into Kentucky, landing at Paducah ; issuing a proclama- 
tion, as was the custom in those days, to the effect that he 



grant's advance — LOTALTT — CONGRESS. 8S9 

had come to protect the people and aid them in driving the PSf^- 

hostile invaders from the State. 

General Anderson assumed command, and the Legisla- 
. ture called out "for defense against the invaders" 40,000 
men, and by law disfranchised those Kentuckians who had 
voluntarily joined the enemy if they did not return to then- oQ ' 
allegiance to the State. The neutrality of Kentucky was 
at an end. 



The disaster at Bull Run rendered the people of the 
free States intensely anxious ; fears were entertained of a 
rapid advance on Wasliington itself. That such an advance 
was not made is due to tlie opposition of JefEerson Davis, 
who thought tlie measure premature. At this crisis tlie 
terms of the first men called out were about to expire, and 
now a call was made for men to serve tliree years. The 
new rousing of the patriotism of the loyal North was sub- 
lime : regiments came into existence as if raised by magic ; 
even the sympathizers with the rebellion cowered before the 
enthusiasm and determination evoked to repel the advance 
of the insurgents ; yet they continued to the end to dis- 
parage evei;y loyal victory and exaggerate every defeat. 

Congress was equal to the emergency ; they joassed a bill 
authorising the enlisting of 500,000 men and appropriated 
500,000,000 dollars, to carry on the war. They also passed 
an act confiscating all slaves used by the rebels for military Aug. 
purposes ; all slaves within the Federal lines were to be em- 
ployed upon the works and paid as day laborers. General 
Butler had applied the term "Contraband of war" to the 
slaves escaping from their masters to his army at Fortress 
Monroe ; although orders had been issued that such runa- 
ways should be restored, he delayed to comply with the 
order. Great care was taken by tlie National Government 
to conciliate the slave owners, but without success. 

Gen. McClellan entered upon his duties with commend- ^"2- 
able zeal ; Washington was fortified thoroughly, there being 
no less than thirty-tivo forts constnicted at different points 



8i0 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

Lvm' '^^^ garrisoned. But bis great work was to bring order out 
of disorder, to discipline the numerous new soldiers that 



Oct.' liad crowded by steamboat and railway to the capital. 

15- This great work he was fully competent to perform, and it 
was as fully accomplished. By the middle of October he 
had 150,000 men under his immediate command. No 
advances were made, except reconnoiteriug expeditions to 
ascertain the positions of the enemy and their designs. 

The Confederates, under General Evans, made a feint 
of evacuating Leesburg, in order to draw some one of these 
reconnoiteriug parties into an ambuscade. General Stone 
was in command in that vicinity. He ordered Colonel 
Baker to cross the Potomac and try the enemy, for it was 
well known that Leesburg was well fortified. The crossing 
was made, but the enemy remained quiet until the Federals 
were within their power. Tlien occurred a terrific battle 

^^'- and slaughter, compared witb tiie numbers engaged — and 
Ball's Bluff disaster is the saddest of the wai\ General 
Stone sent an order to Colonel Baker warning him of 
danger, as the enemy were reported to be in strong force. 
This order was given to Baker on the battle-field, who 
asked tlie bearer what it was. The answer was, '" All right, 
go ahead." Colonel Baker put the order in his hat without 
reading it, and went "ahead" straight into the trap laid 
for liim by the cunning enemy. After the battle the order 
was found in the colonel's hat, stained with his own blood. 
Lieutenant-General Scott asked to be placed on the 
retired list, on account of bis age and infirmities. This 
request was granted. The President and his Cabinet going 
to the general's quarters to respectfully bid him farewell as 
Oct commander-in-chief of the armies of the Republic. General 
McClellan was appointed to succeed him, and he at once 
assumed command. 

A combined naval and land expedition was planned at 
Fortress Monroe, where the veteran General Wool was now 
in command — Butler having been relieved and ordered to 
active duty. A fleet of three frigates, fifty guns each, and 



1861. 



HATTERAS EXPEDITION. 841 

four vessels of smaller size, besides transports and tug-boats 5^^^- 
to carry the laud force. No person knew the destination, 
except a few of the ofMcers, till the expedition was fully out 
at sea. The fleet was under Commodore Stringham, and 
the land forces under General Butler. The object was to 
capture and hold the two forts — Hattcras and Clark — at 
the entrance of Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, in order to 
break up the contraband trade by which English blockade 
runners supplied the insurgents with munitions of war, in 
exchange for tar, turi3entine and cotton. 

Fort Hatter'as was a very strong battery, nearly sur- 
rounded by water ; Fort Clark, 700 yards distant, was not 
as strong. Almost on their arrival the frigates opened on -*-"£• 
the forts, while the transports landed their men some four 
miles distant. Hatteras replied with spirit, but wildly, and 
the Union frigates poured in their solid shot and shell, 
literally tearing the fort to pieces. Toward evening a storm 
arose and the vessels were forced to withdraw to the ofHng ; 
in the morning the weather was clear and the frigates 
opened again upon Fort Hatteras. Meantime, the land 
forces occupied Fort Clark, whicli the enemy had aban- 
doned. At 11 A.M.. a white flag was run up on Fort 
Hatteras ; both forts were unconditionally surrendered. 
More tlian GOO prisoners were taken, while not a Union 
soldier was injured. For a number of days the men 
amused themselves in capturing English blockade runners, 
who, not having -learned of tlie capture, entered the inlet 
as usual. The blockade was enforced as much as possible 
along the coast, with its multitude of inlets and harbors, 
some of which had one or two entrances. 

Two months later a simiUir expedition set out from 
Fortress Monroe. Commodore Dupont commanded the 
navy, and General Thomas "W". Sherman the land forces. 
This expedition consisted of seventy-seven vessels, of all 
classes^— steamers and sailers, steam-tugs, and ocean steam- 
ers as transports, and fifteen gunboats and one steam 
.frigate, the Wabash. Among the gi'cat ocean steamers was 



84:2 HisTOKy OF the ameeicak people. 

caiVJ'. tlie VanderbiU, afterward presented to the Government by 

'- Cornelius Vanderbilt. These vessels were nearly all volun- 

Oh" tsers — the ship-owners were not behind in their sacrifices 
39. for the cause. The whole expedition moved from Fortress 
Monroe ; its destination was not generally known till it 
arrived oflE Port Royal, South Carolina, the finest harbor on 
the South Atlantic coast. After some unavoidable delays 
the gunboats and the Wahash were ready for the bombard- 
ment of the forts on each side of the channel. The vessels 
jfov_ moved in an ellipse. As they passed up the stream they 
'''• poured in a deadly fire of solid shot and shell on the forts 
on one side of the channel, tlien as they returned paid their 
respects to the forts on the other side ; the most promi- 
nent,- Hilton Head, was deemed invulnerable. The vessels 
thus moving passed in and out of the range of the rebel 
guns. The Wabash came within sis hundred yards of 
Hilton Head, while the gunboats of smaller draft came 
close in shore and enfiladed the enemy's works. The Con- 
federates could not stand the storm, but leaving everything 
fled to the woods. The bombardment lasted four hours. 
The Federals captured about forty pieces of ordnance, 
mostly of the heaviest caliber and of the most ajiproved 
patterns, and an immense quantity of ammimition. The 
Tillage of Beaufort was occupied. It was made the hospital 
headquarters during the war for that section, and a resting- 
place for the sick soldiers, weakened so much by tlie debili- 
tating influence of the climate, i^ter the capture of Hilton 
Head and the adjacent islands the enemy began to burn the 
cotton, lest it should fall into the hands of the XTnion 
soldiers. Tlie whole heavens were lighted uj) night after 
night by the raging fires. 

The unanimity with which the people of the free States 
responded to the calls of the Government, both for men 
and money, was truly marvelous. From April 15, 1861, 
when Mr. Lincoln's proclamation was issued, to August 
15th, more than 500,000 volunteers had answered to these 
calls. Of these 375,000 were actually in the field. The 



COMPOSITION OF UNION ARMIES. Hio 

Government, from the first, determined to depend upon the ?M^- 

people theraselve.-, not only for soldiers, but for the means 

to defray the expenses of the war. In strictness there was 
not a mci-cmary in the Union armies ; there were those of 
foreign birth, but they were either citizens by adoption and 
oath of allegiance, or had declared, according to law, their 
intention to become citizens ; they received pay for their 
services, which was just and proper. When the call for 
money was made, the banks of the principal cities imme- 
diately loaned the govemmeut fifty million dollars. Then 
the appeal was made to the people at large, who could sub- 
scribe in small sums according to their ability. The rapid- 
ity with which this loan was taken proved the earnest 
loyalty as well as the inielligcnce of the people of the free 
States. The interest on this loan was at the rate of seven 
and thrcc-tcuths per cent., or two cents a day on $100. To 
raise more revenue a heavy tariff was imposed on foreign 
merchandise and manufactures. The result was great devel- 
opment in the manufacturing industries of the land, and an 
abundance of employment given to those of moderate means, 
whose only capital was their skill and hands. Never bcfoie 
did they move so energetically in their industrial pursuits. 

On a dark and stormy night one of the English blockade 
ninners, the steamer Theodora, slipped out of Charleston 
harbor, having on board John M. Mason of Viiginia, axi- 
thor of the fugitive slave law of 1850, and John fSlidell, of 
Louisiana, as special envoys to Great Britain and f i-ance. 
They were landed at Cardenas, Cuba ; thence made their 
way to Havana, where they went aboard tlie English mail 
steamer Trent. Captain Charles Wilkes of the United 
States steam sloop of war San Jacinto, and who, when a 
lieutenant, had commanded a voyage of scientific discovery -^ 
round the world, overhauled the Trent and demanded the 8. ■ 
envoys, who were delivered up to him. Captain Wilkes called 
at Fortress Monroe, sent his dispatches to Wasliington, and 
then steamed for New York, where he received orders to 
send the envo3's to Fort Warren, in Boston harbor, at which 



su 



HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



1861. 



UHAP. place they were delivered. The news of this capture caused 

LVIII. i •' i 

uuiDrecedented excitement tlirougliout the land. The peo- 
ple, with the greatest enthusiasm, aj)i:)roved the action of 
Captain Wilkes. But tlie absorbing question arose, what 
will be the result ? Captain Wilkes justified himself, show- 
ing his authority from writers on international law, but 
more from English precedent. It was well known that our 
war with England in 1812 arose in part from the fact that 
English cruisers assumed the right to board neutral ships on 
the high seas and search them for articles contraband of 
war. Wilkes deemed the envoys contraband. The United 
States Government had always denied the right, and fought 
to maintain its op^wsite. Tlie British Government, in cour- 
teous terms, due to the influence of Queen Victoria and 
Prince Albert, who both sympathized with the North in the 
rebellion, demanded the release of the envoys. They were 
returned more in accordance with the American idea that it 
was wrong to seize neutral vessels on the high seas than 
from precedent derived from British custom. Indeed before 
the demand came the matter had been amicably arranged 
between Lord Lyons, the British Minister, and Mr. Seward, 
the Secretary of State. As Captain Wilkes, who was on his 
return from a three years' cruise, liad arrested these men 
without orders, tlie act was disavowed, and no cause of war 
remained. Meantime great excitement prevailed in En- 
gland. War preparations were made in great haste, and 
troops were sent to Canada. The disappointment of the 
Confederate authorities was almost unbounded. Tliey had 
hoped it would lead at least to a collision with England, and 
pei-haps to their material aid. King Cotton had already 
failed them, and now they were to derive no benefit from 
the capture of the envoys. 

The enemy under Bishop Leonidas Polk, who had been 
made a Major-General, held a strongly fortified position at 
Columbus, Kentucky ; on the other side of the river, at 
Belmont in Missouri, was a well fortified camp. General 
Grant, then at Caii'o, resolved to break up the latter, as 



BATTLE OF BELMONT. 845' 

from there expeditious could be easily sent into Missouri or fHAP, 
up or down the river. With about 3,000 men aboard steam- 



1 ftfil 

ers and escorted by tlie gunboats Tyler and Lexington, tlie -^^^' 
Union soldiers landed four miles above Belmont and at once 7. 
took u}) their march toward the encampment. In about 
a mile tliey fell in with tlie enemy and drove them "foot 
by foot and from tree to tree back to their encampment on 
the river's bank, a distance of over two miles;" as they 
drew near, suddenly was heard firing and cheers on the rear 
of the enemy. The lUinoisians, under Colonel Napoleon B. 
Buford, had made a detour rapidly and were now closing 
in ; a combined movement was made upon three sides of the 
enemy's works, which were soon in possession of tlie Union 
forces; "The rebels passing over the river bank and into 
their transports in quick time." The object was accom- 
l)lished ; Grant destroyed all the munitions and jiroperty of 
the camp, and th.en fell back to his transports. Meantime 
Polk had sent troops to attack tlie Federals on their way 
back but without success. Bishop Polk reported ; " It was 
a hard fought battle lasting from half past ten a.m. to five 
p.m;" he judged Grant's force to be 7,000 strong. The 
Federals lost 84 killed and 288 wounded ; the enemy's loss 
was never accurately known. 

The enemy had taken possession of Cumberland Gap to 
prevent the Unionists of East Tennessee from being aided 
by United States troops. The Union men of that section 
displayed the most heroic patriotism of any portion of the 
country ; and the Confederate authorities thought it of the 
highest importance to prevent that section being occupied 
by Union forces, lest they should cut in twain " The Empire 
of the South." General William T. Sherman, who had 
succeeded Anderson in Kentucky, was of the same opinion, 
but .the authorities at Washington seemed to think other- 
wis'e. If that point had been occupied in force, communi- 
cation with Cincinnati and the North could have been kept 
open. The persecutions and outrages inflicted upon the 



8i6 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAX PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Union men were fiercer in East Tennessee than in any por- 
LVIII. . •' '■ 
• tion East of the Missjssippi. 

j^^y' General Biiell assumed command in Kentucky, and ho 

15. withdrew the Union forces from the eastern portion of the 
State as a large rebel force was reported to be in the vicinity 
of Bowling Green, an important and strategic point, and 
that tlieir intention was to move North and capture Louis- 
ville, and a strenous effort must be made to drive tbem from 
the State. The Union men of the State turned out nobly 
in aid of the cause more than 18,000 who never flinched in 
in battle ; and yet the State had furnished many thousands 
of misguided young men to the very army which was now 
invading and pillaging their native State. In the eastern 
poi'tion of tlic State a series of skiruiislies had taken jjlacc 
in whicli the rebels were generally woi^ted and driven from 
point to point, but finally they concentrated under General 
Zollicoffer, and made an attack on tlie Union forces under 
General Thomas at Logan's farm — this battle is known as 
that of Mill Spring, thougli tinit was eight miles distant. 
, "• General Thomas had made his arrangements to attack 

tlie rebels in their entrenciunents ; but the enemy them- 
selves had thought to attack Thomas in a similar manner. 
They, accordingly, left their entrenchments after dark on a 
Saturday night, and the next morning at seven o'clock 
drove in the Federal pickets. Word was speedily given 
tha^ the enemy were in force, and in less thnn half an hour 
the Union soldiers were in line of battle, a detachment, 
meanwhile, holding the foe in clieck. The conflict was 
severe, and the lines wavered hack and forth for honrs. 
Tlie Confederates had protected themselves by an extempor- 
ized bulwark of fence rails and a barn. Between them and 
the woods where the Federal soldiers were, was an open field. 
Colonel McCook determined to capture these defenses, .and 
he ordered the Ninth Ohio, Germans, to fix bayonets ; tlien 
moving along the front, he shouted. " My invincible Ger- 
mans, charge!" A moment afterward the whole regiment 
was in the open field, and with shouts rnshed upon the 



REBEL FINAIfCES — SLATEET AGAIST IN COKGEESS. 847 



1861. 



enemy, who lingered for a moment as if bewildered, and £^^?- 
then fled. The Union troops with cheers advanced the 
whole line, and their defeat was complete; nor did they 
stop till they reached their eutrenehments, eight miles dis- 
tant. The Union forces pushed on, and late in the after- 
noon commenced a sharp cannonade. Night came on, and 
Thomas made preparation to assault in tiie morning. At 
daylight the ramparts were scaled, but not a man was to be 
seen. The night before the enemy had fled silently, leaving 
everything in their camp, lest the noise of destroying their 
munitions should betray their design. Their commander. 
General Zollicoffer, had been killed, and they were com- 
pletely demoralized and abandoned all tlieir fortifications in 
that region. 

The way was now open to occupy Cumberland and 
Pound Gaps, and an entrance into East Tennessee, so much 
dreaded by the Confederate authorities ; but General Thomas 
was ordered to cooperate with the Federal advance toward 
Bowling Green and Nashville. 

Jefferson Davis sent in a special message to the Confed- 
erate Congress. This document was evidently designed to 
produce a cestaiu effect, especially in England and France, 
to whose courts he had just sent the two envoys. Every ^97- 
conflict thus far had resulted in a glorious victory for the 
rebels ; not a word was said of the progress of the Federal 
cause in Missouri, Kentucky, and West Virginia ; not a 
word of the capture of Hatteras, or Hilton Head, or Beau- 
fort. The cotton-spinners of England were kindly admon- 
ished that the blockade might diminish the supply of that 
article. He proclaimed that the financial system adopted 
had worked well, when the general impression was tliat 
"their National Loan and the Cotton and Produce Loan" 
were failures. 

The question of the slave came more directly than usual 
before Congress on its assembling. A change was in prog- j)ec. 
ress among thinking minds in the free States in respect to 2. 
his position in this contest. He was used by the nation's 



848 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, enemies to build fortifications, to raise corn and cotton, to 



support and protect the families of those who were in the 
186'* 

armies of the rebellion. He had been happilj' characterized 

as a "contraband" of war; yet commanders in the field 
had usually treated him as a slave, and in some instances, 
when a fugitive in the Union army, he had been restored to, 
liis master when the latter was disloyal. The annual repor'" 
of the Secretary of War, Mr. Cameron, farored negro eman- 
cipation, and remuneration to the loyal slave owners. 

The same re2)ort stated that the total number in the 
army was : infantry, 568,383; cavalry, 59,398; artillery, 
34,686; rifles and sharpshooters, 8,395; engineers, 107. 
In the aggregate, 660,971, of which 30,334 were of the reg- 
ular army. The rebel army numbered about 350.000 men. 
There is no data for an accurate estimate, as they usually 
exaggerated their numbers before a battle and depreciated 
them afterward. 

Around Washington an army of about 300,000 was 
drilling during the summer and the entire autumn, and no 
doubt was as well disciplined as any such body of men could 
be. Tlie people became impatient that this numerous and 
well appointed army should lie idle so long; and the sol- 
diers themselves became equally impatient. The roads 
were in perfect order for an advance on the enemy, and the 
weather all that could be wished. The enemy were almost 
in sight, flaunting their flags and holding their entrench- 
ments, while their newsjmpers sneered at the want of energy 
in the Union commander. In other portions of the country 
the Union generals made advances and were successful in 
West Virginia, Missouri and Kentuck}', but " All is quiet 
on the Potomac "had passed into a proverb. The enemy 
went deliberately into winter quarters in the vicinity of 
Ccntreville and along the upper Potomac. The peoi^le 
began to feel there was something mysterious in this delay. 
Jan. The President appointed Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of 
1^- War in place of Mr. Cameron, resigned. Tlic new Secre- 
tary, by liis untiring energy and intense loyalty, was most 



FORT HEXRT CAPTTEED. 849 

efiBcieut in promoting tlie Union cause ; stern and inflexible ?5^?- 
in character, obedient only to the dictates of duty. 

It was planned, when the stage of water in the Ten- 
nessee and the Cumberland would admit of the free passage 
of the gunboats, to penetrate the Confederacy along these 
rivers, and thus turn the strongholds of the enemy at Colum- 
bus, on the Mississippi, and at Bowling Green, in Southern 
Kentucky. Captain A. H. Foote had been detailed from 
the United States Navy to command the western flotilla of 
gunboats. These boats were of somewhat different con- 
struction from the ocean-going, being flat-bottomed and not 
plated so heavily ; indeed some of them, from the lightness 
of their armor, were jocosely styled "tin-clads." Grant 
bad about 30,000 men gathered at Cairo, Paducah and 
Bird's Point. R^connoissances, which had sorely distracted 
the enemy, both by land and water, ascertained the positions 
of their fdrces. 

At length the expedition was ready to move ; ten regi- F^''- 
ments, with their artillery and cavalry, embarked on 
transports at Cairo. The steamers headed up stream to 
Paducah, at the mouth of the Tennessee, and up that 
river. The Confederates now learned that Fort Heniy was 
to be attacked. Captain Foote, with his gunboats, bore 
the steamers company. Four miles below the fort the 
troops under General ilcCleniand disembarked, Foote 
meanwhile shelling the woods in search of the enemy. 
The following day transports brought more troops and 
General Grant. 

Captain Foote wished the attack to be deferred for a 
day, so that the fort could be so invested as to secure the 
prisoners, assuming that he himself could subdue the fort 
before the troops could get in position. The gunboats had 
not yet been tried, and both Grant and his oflScers evidently 
did not have the faith in them that the captain had. Feb. 
Prompt at the hour, 11 a. m.. General McClernand moved ®' 
to throw his division on the road leading from Fort Henry 
to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland, Captain Foote also 



850 HISTOET OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

Lvm. moved at the same time, and passing up on the west side of 
-„ an island, through a channel carelessly left unobstructed by 
the enemy, suddenly came into the river near the fort. 
The gunboats took their iiosition and began to throw shots 
and shells, and api^roached nearer and nearer ; so terrible 
■was the storm that the earthworks crumbled away and 
nearly one half of the fort's guns were dismounted, and the 
infantry supports of the artillery fled, the insurgent flag 
was hauled down and the fort suiTendered unconditionally. 
Only 130 prisoners were secured, the remainder escaped, as 
the Union forces were not yet iu position to capture them, 
for, true to his word, Poote had subdued the fort in one 
hour and fifte'en minutes. The astonisliment at the success 
of the gunboats was as great among the army and its officers 
as the wholesome dread with which they inspired the Con- 
federates. Unfortunately the boiler of the Essex gunboat 
was struck by a cannon ball, and the issuing steam scalded 
twenty-four of the men and killed four instantly, otherwise 
the boats were scarcely injuj-cd. 

The captain sent gunboats in pursuit of tiie steamers, 
which they overtook and destroyed, and also transports 
laden with supplies for the enemy. They ascended to 
Florence, Ala., making clean work of :ill war material on 
the riA'er. The Union gunboats, at almost every point, 
were \velcomed by the people. Captain Foote returned on 
the evening of the battle to Cairo, to repair damages to the 
boats and prepare for the expedition against Fort Donelson. 

Fort Donelson was on the west bank, and twelve miles 
easf of Fort Henry. Tlie Confederates deemed it of the 
greatest importance to hold this place. Thither General 
Sidney A. Johnston had sent troops under John B. Floyd 
and Buckner, the former having chief command. 

The main fort stood on a gradually rising hill ; the top, 
or plateau, contained about one hundred acres. The crest 
of this plateau was encircled by rifle pits, and artillery com- 
manded every approach, and it was deemed impregnable by 



FORT DONELSON. 851 

the enemy. West and soutli of the fort were hills densely chap. 



wooded and filled with ravines. 

Grant moved from Fort Henry and invested Dorielson Yeb 
on the afternoon of the same day. The next day were 12. 
iierce artillery duels; sharpshooters on both sides were 
busy ; desperate sorties by the enemy were repulsed ; and an 
equally desperate attempt to capture a battery that annoyed 
the Union army was made by McClernand's order, but after 
a heroic effort failed. 

The next morning Captain Foote came up with sis gun- peb. 
boats, and at 2 p. m. commenced the bombardment of the ^^ 
fort. The boats came within 350 yards of the water bat- 
tery. For more than an hour the battle raged. Only two 
of the enemy's guns were able to reply, when a chance shot 
cut the tiller chain of the Louisville. The boat veered 
round and exposed her side, and anotlier such shot broke 
the rudder post, and she was carried helplessly down the 
current. Encouraged by this mishap, the enemy directed 
all their fire on the St. Louis, the flag boat, a heavy battery 
on the hill joining in. The St. Louis was soon as helpless 
as the Louisville, one of her side wheels being broken by a 
solid shot, and she too floated down the stream after having 
been struck fifty-nine times. 

An assault had been intended all along the enemy's line 
when the fleet had silenced the guns in the water forts. 
After the result was known General Grant consulted with 
Foote, and it was deemed best to repair the gunboats and 
wait for the mortar floats, that were not in readiness when 
Foote left Cairo at the peremptory command of Halleck. 

Meantime the enemy became alarmed lest they should be 
so hemmed in that they could not escape, and they resolved 
to cut their way out by dislodging tlieir besiegers. Accord- 
ingly at dawn of day the nest morning they moved out in 
three divisions, intending to converge to one point of Feb. 
attack on the Federal right next the river ; but they unex- 
pectedly found the Union army prepared in front of their 
own earthworks, and before they were formed in line 



852 HISTOET OF THE AMEBICAlf PEOPLE. 

CHAP, of battle they were attacked and held in check, but only 

— to make another attempt, and thus on the south side of the 

1862. j^j.j^ .^.j^g conflict waged for five hours. Eegiment after 
regiment of these inexperienced Union soldiers took their 
jjlaces and remained till their ammunition was exhausted, 
and they were relieved by fresh troops. Many of these 
when their cartridges failed begged to be led in a bayonet 
charge against the enemy. Such was the spirit of this 
whole army. The battle for tlie most part was fought in a 
forest with a dense undergrowth, which much impeded 
rapid movements. The Confederates thus far had made 
desjjcrate aggressive attemj^ts. Now Grant, who had been 
absent holding a consultation with Captain Foote, in turn 
determined to assault tlieir lines, and he ordered the 
Federals, about one p.m., to carry the enemy's position 
by assault. This was most handsomely done, the enemy 
being driven at the point of the bayonet to their inner 
works. Ou the Federal right a similar assault was made, 
with the same result. The Union army licld all their 
advanced positions during the night, and were preparing 
to renew the attack in tlio morning. This gloomy night 
was passed in bringing witliin the Union lines the wound- 
ed, scattered over a space of two miles and a half. The 
Union soldiers and the Confederates fared alike, being cared 
for with equal kindness. 

There was evidently commotion in the enemy's camp. In 
tlie morning, when the Union lines advanced at daylight to 
the assault, numerous muskets were held up along their 
ramparts displaying white flags. The advance halted, and 
General Buckner desired to negotiate. He was left in 
command ; Floyd and Pillow had slipped off up the river 
witli some of their followers on board a transport, and left 
Buckner to bear the stigma of surrendering. He wished 
for an armistice and terms of capitulation. General Grant 
refused the request, and replied, " No terms except uncon- 
ditional and immediate surrender can be accepted ; I pur- 
pose to move immediately on your works." Buckner at 



DONELSON CAPTUEED. 853 

once surrendered. The number of prisoners was nearly ?^ap. 

14.,000, aud their killed aud wounded 1,300 ; and all the 

guns and military stores, an immense amount. This vic- 
tory sent dismay into the Confederacy, while the rejoicings 
in the loyal States were great. The actiyity and energy of 
the Western undrilled armies were contrasted with the 
inactivity aud discipline that reigned around Washington. 
Immediately after this capture the enemy evacuated 
Bowling Green aud moved toward Nashville, which place 
tliey merely passed through, destroying the railroad suspen- 
sion bridge over the Cumberland, one of the finest in the 
country — an unnecessary destruction of property, as its 
ruin could not impede the Union army. The Legislature ^^^• 
with the Governor left in haste. The beautiful city was 
occupied by Federal forces and order restored. That 
stronghold Columbus, on tlie Mississippi, was also evacu- 05 
ated on the receipt of the news of the fall of Fort Don- 
elson. 



CHAPTER LIX. 

LlNCOLlf's ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED. 

Burnside'a Expedition to North Caroliua— Capture of Newbern— Bat- 
tle of Pea Ridge— Capture of New Madrid and Island No 10— Battle 
of Pittsburg Landing or Sbiloh— Capture of New Oileans— Death 
of Admiral Foote— Battle of river iron cladg— Capture of Mem- 
phis—Evacuation of Corinth— Plans of movements on Rich- 
mond—The Merrimac and Monitor duel. 

CHAP 

LIX. ' On the Atlantic coast a naval and land expedition under 
jggg Commander Goldsboro and General A. E. Burnside was 
fitted out, against Roanoke Island — the scene of Sir Walter 
Raleigh's colony' — and to make a demonstration on the 
coast of North Carolina, to encourage the Union men, and 
also create a diversion south of Richmond and Norfolk. 

In approaching Albemarle Sound the rebel fleet and an 
earthwork known as Fort Barton were encouuted ; the enc- 
jny's fleet soon retired out of harm's way, and Goldsboro 
opened upon the fort, but was not .ible to reduce it after a 
bombardment of some hours. During the night the troops 
g • landed, and in the morning, under General Foster, moved 
to the attack over a swampy and difScult way. On the 
march they came upon a battery, protected by a swamp on 
either side ; Foster flanked the battery right and left, and 
when the Union soldiers came out upon their rear flanks, the 
enemy threw down their arms and fled. This success was 

' Hist, pp. uo, m. 



KOANOKE — CAPTURE OF NEWBEKN'. 855 

followed up and their entire force — about 3,000 — on the '^^^• 
island of Roanoke was captured. 

Burnside issued the usual proclamation, promising pro- 
tection to those engaged in their usual avocatious and 
enjoining the Union soldiers not to injure private property 
on their march. Roanoke Island became the base of opera- 
tions ; and from it were sent out mauy exjjeditions which 
essentially interfered with the English blockade runners by 
seizing harbors and filling channels of approach. 

The most important capture of Newbern on the Neuse lY' 
was accomi)lished by a combined laud and naval force. The 
troops landed 17 miles below the town, and marched up the 
road along the river bank and a railway track from Beau- 
fort, the gunboats by their shells keeping the enemy at a 
respectful. distance. About three miles below the town was 
found a formidable fieldwork, which promised to ofEer 
much resistance. This fortification was flanked by a swamp 
and Burnside sent a detachment round, while he pressed 
the enemy in front ; the detachment appeared on the flank, 
but the Confederates held their ground until a Rhode Island 
regiment, on the run, charged bayonet and changed the 
tide of battle ; other Union troops pressed on and the ront 
was complete. A portion of the fleeing enemy readied a 

train of cara and carried the news of defeat to Newbern. ,, 

Mai'. 
There, as was their custom, they began to burn a bridge 14. 

and all the rosin and turpentine, and the steamers at the 
wharf, two of which were saved by the United States gun- 
boats. The enemy had wantonly set the town on fire, but 
the citizens with aid from the United States Marines snc- 
ceded in putting it out, though not until the best Hotel 
and the Court House and many private residences were con- 
sumed. General Foster was installed as Military Governor 
in Newbern. 

Other places in the vicinity were captured, such as Beau- 
fo{t and Washington, on Pamlico River. Fort Macon, a 
strong fortification built by the United States Government 
to protect the harbor of Beaufort, was reduced after a bom- 



1862. 



856 HISTOKT OF THE A3IEEICAX PEOPLE. 

CH^. bardment of eleven hours. This secured the blockading 
fleet one of the finest and safest harbors on the coast. 

Major-General S. E. Curtis was directed by General Hal- 
leck to drive the rebels, Price and Eaius and theii- hordes, 
out of Missouri into Arkansas. Curtis was soon on the 
^' march toward Springfield, where Price and his band had 
been for some time. The latter took the alarm and hastily 
retreated South, Curtis pursuing and the enemy retreat- 
ing, till at length they reached the Boston Mountains. 
Curtis learned that they were concentratiug against him 
under General Van Dorn, whose army numbered about 
34,000 men ; of these Ben McCullough had 13,000— out- 
numbering the Union army more than four to one. These 
made attacks ou the various Federal divisions as they came 
up, bat were always repulsed. At length they concentrated 
at Pea Ridge in Arkansas, and the enemy advanced to give 
battle, which raged all day on the Federal right with 

Mar. scarcely a cessation. Tlie ground was hilly and covered 
''• with thick underbrush and broken up by ravines. On the 
left wing the contest was equally stubborn, but more varied 
in result. Ben McCullough made a desperate assault upon 
Colonel Oesterhans, of Sigel's division, but Curtis ordered 
up Davis's troops to the Colonel's aid, and the combined 
force drove the enemy headloug from the field, they leaving 
dead their commandiug generals, Mcintosh and Ben McCul- 
lough — the latter the master-spirit of their army. Success 
had also crowned the left wing. During the night both 
armies lay on their arms ; the Union soldiers resting for the 
first time in two days' marching and sleepless nights. 

At sunrise tbe battle was renewed, and raged most of 
the day along the whole line, nearly three miles ; Sigel 
handling his artillery with wonderful rapidity and effect. 
Every attempt to break the Union line was foiled. For 
more than two hours this continued, when Sigel began to 
advance his part of the line ; the enemy sought shelter ^n 
the woods, but the Federals charged through their shelter 
and drove them with the bayonet to an open field beyond. 



ISLA>.-D xo. 10. 857 

■when tbey broke and fled in all directions. Thus ended '^?^^- 

the two days' fiirht at Pea Eidge. Xever before had the 

enemy suffered so disastrous a defeat. Soon after those who 
had not deserted were transfened to the army of General 
S. A. Johnston, again to meet the Union soldiers under 
General Grant. 

The Xational Goremment never lost sight of the im- 
portance of the control of the Mississippi river, and to that 
end Admiral Foote directed bis attention in connection with 
a land force under General Pope. The enemy made the most 
strenuous exertions to retain their hold of the great river as 
a most important source of supplies, both beyond it and on 
its tributaries. 

The islands in the Mississippi from the mouth of the 
Ohio downward are designated by numbers.* The Confed- 
erates chose available points on the river to fortify, such as 
New Madrid in Missouri, opposite Island Xo. 10. Tipton- 
viUe in Kentucky, and Xo. 10 itself — all three within sup- 
porting distance. To this island they had directed special 
attention, Beauregard, their best engineer, superintending 
the works and pronouncing them impregnable. In conse- 
quence here were collected vast military stores and provi- 
sions as for a long siege. 

Admiral Foote was to bombard No. 10, and at the same 
time Popo ^o capture Xew Madrid. The latter found the jfgj 
town fortitied by et?rth works and defended by rebel gun- 3. 
boats, which, because of the high water in the river, were 
able to sweep its banks, and in the face of these guns it 
would be impossible to hold the town if captured. He 
therefore sent to Cairo for siege guns — 24 pounders. These 
soon came, and during the night time yfere placed in posi- 
tion within 800 yards of the enemy's main fortification, and 
in the morning opened upon the astonished enemy, every 
shot telling with fine effect, dismonnring several of their 
heaviest guns. The shot also reached their gunboats 
and steamers in the river, compelling them to hasten out of 
range. A night of storm and rain came on, and in the 











313»!^ 



-aamm^. 






alJ£E iUe-;! 









ft:SwEia.'i^ 







SXMtt iirr«; 



SCttBCCUOt 






860 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CH^. Federal pickets. The entire division flew to arms and 

awaited the enemy's advance. After an hour's waiting 

^pr' they came on, attacking the center; and, extending their 
6. line by an oblique movement, threw an overwhelming force 
upon the left, driving the Federals back and capturing 
General Prentiss and his regiment almost entire. They 
pressed on, turning to the left, but were held in check by 
three Illinois regiments till they were overpowered and 
forced to retire, losing three guns. General W. T. Sher- 
man still held his first line at the meeting-house until the 
enemy passed round to his rear, when he fell back and took 
a new position. "My division," he says, "was made up 
of regiments perfectly new, nearly all having recently 
received their muskets." Great numbers of these fright- 
ened men found their way back to the river, two miles 
distant, and no efforts of their officers could induce them 
to return. The enemy by main force drove the Union left 
through their camp toward the river, but were at length 
held at bay for four Jiours by the pluck of General McCler- 
nand and his troops. The Confederates bad planned not 
to attack but in overpowering numbers; thus when they 
attacked the center they deployed their main force against 
the left. They well knew that, if at all, they must crush 
this advanced Union force before Buell could come uji, or 
troops under Generals Nelson and Thomas could reach the 
field of battle. At five p.m. was a brief lull in the firing. 
The enemy fell back, and then suddenly, as if to take the 
Federals by surprise, threw forward their whole force for 
the second time, with such fierceness and desperation that 
the Union army was compelled to fall back. Just then the 
gunboats Lexington and Tyler came wp the river. They 
soon learned by a messenger from General Grant the posi- 
tion of the enemy. The boats took their station and sent 
in with great rapidity their shot and shell, the latter burst- 
ing amid the ranks of the Confederates. "The shells 
hurling death and destruction throirgh the scrub-oak jun- 
gles under whose cover the euemy fought securely." In 



BATTLE CONTINUED. 861 

less than thirty mimltes they bad silenced the rebel batter- chap. 



ies. Just before the boats opened fire Buell's advanced 
division appeared on the Union right, and they successfully ' 

resisted the last charge of the enemy that day.- This was 
nearly a great victory. They had the advantage of supe- 
rior numbers ; on the morrow that would be changed. 
General Sidney A. Johnston, their commander-in-chief, 
was among the slain. 

The Union army in this battle numbered about 38,000, 
wlijle the enemy had 45,000, under their best generals — 
S. A. Johnston, Beauregard, Bishop Polk, and Hardee — 
and the best fighting material they had in the field ; l)ut in 
endurance and cool, determined courage the Northern 
soldiers were superior, though the Southern had the more 
dash. 

Reinforcements for the Union army began to arrive on 
the evening of the battle. The remainder of Buell's forces ; 
Nelson and Crittenden's divisions, some on foot and some 
on steamers ; two batteries of the regular army, and 
McCook's division, by a forced march, reached the landing 
early the following morning. 

It was General Grant's turn now to take the ofEensive, 
and a general advance was ordered to begin at 5 o'clock the 
next morning. The hostile pickets were driven in and the 
battle became general along the whole line. At 10 a. m. 
the Union army was moving forward and forcing the enemy ^^' 
step by step from point to point, and though occasionally 
checked, tiie Union army moved steadily forward; their 
fire was regular as clock-work, and the divisions sustained 
each other admirably. At length tlie enemy, after rejjeated 
attempts to break through the Union lines and failing, 
seemed to despair of succeeding. For seven long hours 
they had fought valiantly. Beauregard made the most 
strenuous exertions and exposed himself in his efforts to 
jirevent his army falling back toward Corinth. The pursuit 
was not pressed vigorously owing to the intervening woods, 
which imiieded the movements of cavalry, and the infantry 



862 Hisrory or the aimzeica^t pre fit, 

• ^^ 

<^^^- onJT pTiT^Q?d the Tfiinparmff foe for a mDe or tsro, ll>e 



ISfii 



eBemj feD back to tirar entrenchmenis ai Corinth, and 
R:-- : ^- - - :laimed a irreat CoufederaTe rietorF: thai 
VI- lie, bni Ms prirate dispaich to Jefferson 

I>aTia, eaptured at Hnatsxilk by General O. M. Mitchrl, 

tO- f ': ? srorr. calling for remfojtieinci:t5, and sajing : 

"I ri here we lose Lbe Mississippi YaHey and prob- 

aWj ODT eansa." 

T" "^Jot los in KDed. 1.TS5: -sroimded. T.SSS: the 
re'-T . l.T^S. and -wounded, S.Olt, The enemy.-for 

tJ>e most part, were better protected by the dense woods, as 
the * _ _ ' :' " Jr own choosing. 

- f were enacting in the West a 

eoEsb:ned eipeditaon wss fining ont against Xew Oiieans in 
Ihi '''" ■ ' .! B. F. BT3tler to c^omman' " " " forces 
an - , - . S. Farragct the nsTaL Tl _ r infln- 

egjee c^ Batier the mrai for the enternrise were prineipaHy 
eiZ" ' " '' ^ .land. T' ~ ■'''-. troops 

wi.: ^ . t^^ ^Jie " ; Tay be- 

tween 11 i Xew Odeans, by way of Xake Pontchar- 

tri' ' : ' ' ■ place. 1 ^fnl S-eet of 

m: jt at t2ie 1 _ Xafy Yard 

tmdCT' the dirataion of Captain Daiid D. Porter. This flo- 

Mar. tiOa loined the fleet off the month " ' "".—'. 

Admiral Fanafiit commanded tl _ _:_._.:. _jii 

Pon^r. under him. had control o^ the mortar boats. The 
whole fleet aaid tians" - _ - - - tjasaes, and 

Apr gTinbcats acted as pdc _ _. ;_ _: : . __-. :.:tic>eof the 

*• approach of ceruon irM^clads and rams and fire laft* — 

LagebajTg^lader " ^axwhiehhadbaea poured 

melted jdieh. K^ :_ _ : „__ly inflammable. One of 

these rams, tfce Matutsmf. earned Englidi rifled gnns. 
They also > " - 3 flcating battery, the Lovisvaiia. 

b^des 18 — ._!. .rs, some of which were protected 

by an armor of iron. Their naTal oommander, Hollins. an- 
notmoed that wj-di these be would aimifailate the TTnion 
fieeL An exceedingly strong chain was stretched on floats 



roars 3L tzhii ±szi jAoaaes — aaomL f^.^tbt. 9SS 



vss. 



asans die ciamitil £~3iii ?irt: JbefcaoK b» de eppobiut ^are. ' ^^^ - 
B£sr GO F<KC Sc Philip. Thn* eftaia was enmmwHJeii by 
siie T imn of Ell Tb^£ She — ~ iie 

cisy- — were ■^eir;' _ rroetiKes taoLr _ _^ _^ i_^ : '.;ag 

GoveisaEaaL Fore Jacksoo. kad. UO gons and St, Pbi&p 
BStEly SB uuiifcw. Ea. ad^tiao^ siie aisq^ kad fonferrn T baE- 
KEKS eiBaiaBi&^ die zxva- Sir dttee wi&, sad. alia \^ 
agpFoaefa. from. JAsz Fintrhartrafn 

\ rnufgttBttmta ciHi^lEffidir she UniiTa ^audrrni iiii)<r^ 
S ^3£ gttarir XiaaL oouulk^ ithp <ir oie mot^ jgrrfble 
f^Mflt bas^ OB. Txeasii- F wtruatti moni^EHr-sioars. dirr}(r- -^^ 
mg nnmense 511 oe. amt sx ticaer? -la 

dS£ easffim bazL^ _ _ __ . j. . ^ vamp jasagBS- md. sa 

esMSBsd. bj pxea. bo^iei as s» be well mosksit. ax ^Mps 
:i "A 1.'. and. gm^Mass u^ ami dwn tte scream sitik pan fn 
ij^ :ntB»iiero<ffi frxv. vbffe &iie fiicu- replied, wicb. gnpnc 
Tigu£. Tbe bomharixineac hEceti aO. d^ : die gtrns ra. ciie 
fsi'iriciir;- 1 RR» vers aJEiracedr 3Bd. a^ tbe IsBt 

oae oa --- _ i_ Pfeifip. l^aavbile P "^n- ^enls 

QijWTi dr—eaSs ^ E&e mftia: "jf sire baCkle. bat me 

Iirnlfi 3,1 -■- Z. destaarced "; 

^niLj jr jv."^.,^ - -^ irrajspEepareu _ . ^. ,^._.. .,; 

and aiv«d v&>5 oU bansles^y bom. An nigbe a 

(iesersr esm? ao««eu. iuul mOHrBte^ PoEtEr ndrCuiiL 

A ^e Sx^. i^Dt b^ scafianeo^ is was : ~ '••iiM 

■St be re«foe«I 57r aSTCTal dais. Tbiei gep- 

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topsepaK z. 1 .. - ^^.izsE^&iffi; .^^.■^i^,,^ Meaiiurng tfte 1 
OF-boatE c<9ec<<irK>i 30 t&£W ^o^k bafia tbf Sorts. 

Tbas :: . -aRxesis. bosB 



(iiu i'.u . " ' ' * -^r' ITEi ju.:^ _._. J — 

Ckdecs vese fasei zam: . n a^ te ^bip za gre- 



ipr. 



;■!& B» na ^ gs^"' ' . /efo^ bi ube !iu>mia£ ^ 



1863. 



864 HISTORY 07 THE AMEEICAIT PEOPLE, 

CHAP, tlie fleet was under way. The dai'kness was so great that 
the sentinels at the fort did not discover the movement 
until the first division approached the chain, in a minute 
more, and both the forts opened. This was the signal for 
Porter, who, with his mortars, threw a shower of bursting 
shells inside the fgrts, which interfered materially with 
their firing ; the vessels as they passed by poured in their 
broadsides. As they passed beyond the forts they found 
themselves iu the midst of rebel iron-clads and rams ; the 
latter butting in every direction. The Union gunboats, 
generally, were able to dodge them, and in turn pay them 
the compliment of a broadside. The Cayuga, a swift 
vessel, passing through compelled three steamers to strike 
their flags. The ram Manassas was running round butting 
at anything in tlie smoke and darkness ; finally, she ran 
foul of the Brooklyn, which gave her a broadside with her 
Leavy guns, and the ram disappeared in the darkness. 
Only one vessel was lost, the Varuna, Captain Boggs. The 
career of this vessel deserves relating. The captain finding 
liimsclf "in a nest of rebel steamers" started forward, giv- 
ing broadsides right and left f the first went into a steamer 
crowded with troops, exploded her boilers and she drifted 
ashoi-e ; afterward three other vessels- were driven ashore in 
flames and blown up. Then the Varuna was attacked by 
an iron-clad ram, which raked her and butted her on the 
quarter, but she managed, meantime, to plant three 8-ineh 
shells in the armor of the ram, and a rifle shot, when the 
ram dropped out of action. At this moment another 
rebel iron-clad, . with a prow under water, struck the 
Varuna in the port gangway, doing considerable damage; 
then the rebel drew off and made another plunge and 
struck again in the sam^ place, crushing in her sides ; now 
the Varuna gave her antagonist five S-inch shells ; these 
settled her, and she floated ashore in flames. The Varuna 
herself was in a sinking condition ; but her men were taken 
o2 by boats from the other vessels before she went down. 
All along the river bank were stranded rebel steamers and 



1862. 



REBEL FLEET DESTROYED — NEW ORLEANS SURRENDERS. 865 

rams, nearly all on fire from Union shots and shells ; two chap. 
or three steamers and the iron-clad battery Louisiana had 
escaped, and sought protection under the guns of Fort 
Jack-son ; two or three hundred prisoners were taken. 

The next day Farragut was ready to move, and the fol- 
lowing morning the fleet steamed up the river, and after 
being delayed one-half hour to silence some batteries, he 
reached N'ew Orleans in the afternoon, and demanded its Apr. 
surrender, which was complied with by the mayor. General ^^' 
Lovel, who was in command, before leaving the city had 
fired the Jong line of ships, steamers and flat-boats, and 
vast stores of cotton, tobacco and sugar — a most wanton 
destruction of private property, not all contraband of war. 
The United States public buildings were taken possession 
of by Union soldiers to protect them. The forts Jackson 
and St. Philip also capitulated when the fall of New 
Orleans was known. General Butler arrived and entered 
upon his duties as commandant of the city and vicinity. Apr. 
The city was garrisoned immediately — the troops marching 
in to the tune of "Yankee Doodle," and order restored 
under the s]\illful and energetic rule of Butlci-. He pre- 
pared his proclamation and sent it to the various papers to 
be jm Wished. They all refused. A sufficient number of 
practical printers volunteered from the ranks, took possess- 
ion of one of the offices, and issued the proclamation. This 
incident was similar to many others that occurred during 
this war showing the intelligence and industrial skill of 
the soldiers of the Union armies. 

Farragut sent the gunboat Iroquois, Captain Palmer, up 
the river to the capital of the State, Baton Eouge, which 
surrendered on demand ; then to Natchez, Mississippi, May 
wliich place surrendered ; and then to Vicksburg, which was ^^■ 
found to be fortified and garrisoned, and she refused to run 
up the Stars and Stripes. Her time came in due season. 

During this time Admiral Foote and General Pope were 
working their way down the Mississippi, capturing foi-tified 
places one after another ; delayed a few days at Fort Wright, 



866 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN' PEOPLE. 

OTAP. Chickasaw Bluffs. Here Pope was ordered to joiu Halleek 
at Coriutb ; and Admiral Foote, at the Imperative orders 



^^' of his physician, also retired from the service on account of 
13. wounds received in the attack on Fort Donelson. A few 
weeks later he died, a victim of patriotic ardor, and cheerful 
in the Christian's hope. 

Captain J. E. Davis succeeded Admiral Foote ; a few 

^?y days after, he defeated a rebel fleet of iron-ckids and armed 
steamers under Captain Montgomery, in a conflict of thirty 
minutes; Forts Wright and Pillow were abandoned by the 

Juno enemy; this opened the way down toward Memphis. 'J'he 
^ Union fleet was joined by Captain Ellet's rams of unique 
construction ; made out of powerful tug-boats. The whole 
fleet passed down to island No. 45, two miles above Mem- 
phis, off which place lay the Confederate iron-clads. At four 
A.M., Captain Davis steamed down to find the enemy's fleet 

June on the alert. The battle began at long range, but Ellet's 
6- two rams, the Queen of the West and the Mnnarrh, passed 
rapidly by the Union gunboats, and rushed with great im- 
petuosity into the midst of the rebel boats, firing heavy 
shots riglit and left, and when opportunity served plying 
the enemy with hot water by means of a hose of peculiar 
construction. Then came on the gunboats, and the result 
of this singular contest was that only one of the ten gun- 
boats of the Confederates escaped — they either being sunk 
or blown up. In consequence of this destruction of their 
whole fleet Memphis surrendered unconditionally. 

The Confederates deemed Corinth an important strategic 
point, being at the junction of the Memphis and Charleston 
and Mobile and Ohio railways, but that importance was 
gone as soon as the roads were cut and Mempliis in the 
hands of the Union forces. General Halleek assumed com- 
mand after the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and advanced 
into the vicinity of Corinth and commenced digging paral- 
lels and making approaches. Tiius he spent six weeks. 

jj The enemy in the meantime, were leisurely carrying away 
30. their war material, and when this was done they evacuated 



COBINTH ABANDONED QUIET ON THE POTOMAC. 867 

their strongliolJ, while Halleck kept 100,000 men within chap. 

strikjnor distance until they were well on their way. Gen 

1862 
eral Poj)e was sent in pursuit, but captured only about 2,000 

prisoners. This was the only instance, thus far, of undue 

tardiness in a Western army. 

We have seen the Union soldiers in the West gaining 
battle after battle, and in no instance failing to accomplish 
their ultimate object. They met the enemy in superior 
numbers at Pea Kidge and drove them out of Missouri, 
they captured Forts Henry and Douelson, and opened 
up the Tennessee and the Cumberland rivers, compelling 
the evacuation of that stronghold, Columbus; won the 
battle of Sliiloh, and compelled the enemy to retire to 
Corinth, which in turn they were made to abandon. Along 
the South Atlantic coast battles had been fought, and place 
after place had been captured and held ; an expedition 
against New Orleans had been eminently successful, and 
now, after many conflicts, the whole of the Mississippi was 
held from above to down below Mcmphi?, and from its 
mouth, up to Vieksburg. While these advances were pro- 
gressing, the Army of the Potomac was chafing at their 
imposed inactivity, and drilling in entrenchments around 
the National Capital. 

General McClellan had asked for men till his numbers 
had gi-adually increased in February to 322,196 names on 
his roll, of whom 193,142 were fit for duty. In the pre- Feb 
vious August, in a note to President Lincoln, he says : " I 
propose with this force to move into the heart of the 
enemy's country, and crush the rebellion in its very heart." 
Yet no movement was made. Time passed on, and McClel- 
lan did not intimate to the anxious President or Secretary 
of War that he had any plans of a campaign. Several con- 
ferences were held by the President and some members of 
his Cabinet, at one of which the President asked the Com- 
mander-in-Chief what he intended to do with his army. 
After a long pause, he remarked he " was very unwilling to 
develop his plans, but would do so if ordered." The Presi- 



868 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Jent aslicd if be had fixed any time in his own mind whsn 

LIX, 

iie would move the army. The reply was, he liad. '•' Ou 

jg^" that," rejoined the President, "I will adjourn this meet- 
18. ing." Yet McClellan for weeks gave no intimation of 
moving. At length the President felt it his duty to order a 
general advance of the Union armies on the 22d of Febru- 
ary. It is a coincidence that on this day Jefferson Davis 
was inaugurated at Richmond President of the Confederacy 
for six years, and Alexander H. Stephens Vice-President. 
^1^- Perhaps the President in designating this day had in mind 
that it was the anniversary of the birth of Washington. 

Previous to this President Lincoln addressed a note to 
McClellan, saying, " Your plan is by the Chesapeake, up 
the Rappahannock to Urbana on the York : mine to move 
directly to a point on the railroad south-west of Manassas. 
If you will give satisfactory answers to the following ques- 
tions I shall gladly yield my plan to yours : Does not your 
plan involve a greatly larger expenditure of time and monen 
than mine? Wherein is a victory more valuable by your 
plan than by mine ? In fact, would it not be less valuable 
in this, that it would break no great line of the enemy's 
communications, while mine would ? In case of disaster, 
would not a retreat be 7Uore difficiiU by your plan than 
mine?" No direct reply was made to these questions, 
though a report of the same date by the General-in-Chief 
was claimed to answer. The plan of the President and his 
advisers was virtually the one selected by General Grant 
wben he advanced on Richmond. 

When the Norfolk navy-yard was destroyed and fell 
into the hands of the enemy, the Merrimac steam frigate 
was partially burned and sunk, but was afterward raised 
by the enemy and made over as an iron-clad of tremendous 
power. From hints thrown out by their newspapers this 
mysterious monster became a source of great dread to the 
fleet in and around the lower Chesapeake and Hampton 
Roads. 

Meanwhile Captain Ericsson was building at New York 



THE MEEBIMAC— THE CUMBERLAND SUNK. 869 

a unique iron-clad on a new principle, his own invention, chap. 

This was a revolving turret, made entirely of successive ■ - 

layers of wrought iron plates to the thickness of eleven ^^*^'' 
inches. This turret was turned at will by steam ; within it 
were two rifled guns throwing each an elongated sliot 
weighing 175 pounds, and loaded by machinery ; the turret 
liad two protected port-holes, and was placed on an iron- 
clad hulk, the deck of v.liich was only about three feet 
above the water and clear of every thing except the turret. 
For many weeks the sloop of war Cumheiia.nd and the 
frigate Congress had watched off Newport News for the 
expected monster, now called tlie Vin/iiiia by the enemy. 
On the morning of March 8th she suddenly steamed out 
fi-om the navy yard at Gosport, and made for the Cumber- Mar. 
land, but when passing by the Congress gave her a ^• 
broadside, doing much damage. Tlie Cumherland had a 
heavy armament of 9 and 10-incli Dahlgreu guns, and she 
poured in her broadsides with precision ; but these heavy 
balls glanced harmlessly off the sloping sides of the Merri- 
mac, while one of her solid shots tore through the wooden 
sloop's bulwarks. The Cumberland's men fought desper- 
ately, warping round their vessel to give effective broadsides; 
presently the Merrimac rushed at full speed upon the 
Cumberland and pierced her hull below the water line, 
making a hole four feet in diameter, and crushing in the 
frigate's upper decks, still pouring in solid shot and making 
a liorrible slaughter on the crowded decks. Of the 450 
men on board not a man wavered in this presence of death ; 
their vessel was fast filhng; in five minutes the water 
reached the berth deck where lay the dying and wounded. 
It was seen by her officers that the vessel must sink ; at the 
last moment a salute was fired in honor of their country's 
flag ; hardly had tliis been done when the ship gave a lurch 
and disappeared under the water. More than 300 of these 
brave fellows perished, tlie remainder were picked up by 
boats which put off from shore. 

Meanwhile the Congress was engaged with the Merri- 



Q'JQ HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, jnac's two steam fenders — the Jamestown and the Patrick 

Henrti. She was towed into shallow water and grounded, 

^p^' but not out of reach of the Merrimac'is guns, which soon 
6. disabled every gun on board the fi'igate and set her on fire. 
Lieutenant Peudcgrast hauled down his flag to spare further 
slaugiiter. An officer from the Mcrriinac boarded the 
Congress and received the surrender, but when on his way 
back some j)ersons on the shore fired rifles upon his tug. 
When he returned the Merrimac shelled the shore and 
resumed fire upon tiie helpless Congress, whose men were 
not responsible for tlio firing from the sliore. It was a most 
unwarrantable slaughter of innocent men. The Congress 
was set on fire by these shells and burned until the magar 
zine was exploded ; 150 men were lost. The Merrimac 
now made for the steam frigate Minnesota, which, when 
coming to engage in tlie conflict, had grounded three miles 
away. The commander of the Merrimac. afraid of getting 
into shallow water, contented liimself by firing a few shots 
at long range which did but little harm. The rebel iron- 
clad withdrew at seven in the evening to renew her work of 
destruction in the morning, which was to sink or destroy 
every ship of war in the roads, and then what could she not 
do ? The seaboard cities would be at her mercy. No 
wonder this was a night of gloom in the Roads and of 
anxiety all over the land, whither the telegraph had carried 
the news of these disasters. 

Just after the Merrimac disappeared a singular looking 
craft ajjpeared in the offing ; it was the Ericsson invention 
— the Monitor — of which we have just spoken. She 
reported for duty and took her position near the Minne- 
sota. 

Early Sunday morning the Merrimac was seen coming 
from behind Sewall's Point. She ran down near the Rip 
Mar. Raps, then turned and ran for the grounded frigate, whose 
heavy stern guns gave her their solid shot. The Monitor — 
designated by the sailoi-s as a cheese-box on a raft — ran 
down to meet the monster, which seemed to look askance 



THE MEEKIMAC AND MONITOK DUEL. 871 

at Hie little craft, and threw a shot at her, as if to say. Get chap. 

out of the way or you may be hurt ; but instead, placing - 

herself between the Minnesota and her antagouist, sbe paid 
her respects by a solid shot of 175 pounds. . The Merrmiac 
now turned with her broadsides against the turret, but 
witiiout efEect. The Monitor's two guns deliberately put in 
their shot. The Merviniac attempted to run down her 
little antagonist, and only once grazed her. The nimlde 
Monitor was under such perfect control that she would 
dodge her enL-my, and as she passed i-egularly gave her a 
shot. The Mcrrimac now gave up the attempt to run the 
craft down, but turned her attention to the Minnesota, but 
the Monitor again interposed by jdacing herself between 
the combatants ; and the Merrimac, to get rid of her, 
stood down the bay, the Monitor pursuing. Presently the 
Merrimac turned and ran full speed at her pursuer, which 
dodged her enemy, and, as she passed, plunged a shot into 
her iron roof. The Merrimac soon turned and made for 
Sewall's Point, pursued for some distance by the Mojiitor ; 
but as the latter had orders only to act on the defensive, 
she withdrew as soon as the victory was won. It has never 
transpired how much injury the Mcrrimac received. It is 
certain, however, she no more ventured out from her May 
anchorage, where she was carefully guarded by land batter- ^'• 
ies, and in the end was blown to pieces lest she should fall 
into Federal hands. Thus ended the most influential naval 
duel that ever occurred, as it revolutionized the naval war- 
fare of the world. All the naval powers now began to 
build iron-clads and virtiially throw aside wooden men-of- 
war. The United States Government also began to build 
monitors of various sizes, some very large, and soon had a 
fleet of iron-clads more powerful than the war fleets of all 
the world combined. 

At the last broadside of the Merrimac, Captain Worden, 
the commander of the Moyiitor, was in the pilot-house, and 
when looking througli the eye-crevice a heavy shot struck 
the house and the concussion knocked him senseless. When 



\ 



372 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

OTAP. consciousness returaed, the fight was over and all was 

'- silent. He anxiously asked, " Have I saved the frigate "? 

"Aye, aye, and whipjjed the Me rri mac, " ^\'a.s the answer. 
" Then I care not what becomes of me," said he. Captain 
Worden's eyes never recovered from the injury they received 
from the iron-dust at the concussion of that shot. 



CHAPTER LX. 
Lincoln's ADMiNiSTKATioif — continued. 

Movement of the Army of the Potomac —Evacuation of Manassas. — 
Yoi'ktown, Siege of. — Battle of Williamsburg. — Snuitary (',. mmis- 
Bion. — Tlie Retrea:. — Excitement in Rictimond. — Conscription 
Law. — Jackson in Sbenaudoah Valley. — The Chickahominy. — Bat- 
tle of Fair Oaks —Lee in Command. — Battle of Gaines' Mill or 
Cold Harbor.- Chauge of Base. — Battle of Malvern Hill —Harri- 
son's Landiug. — Cedar Mountain —Secoud Battle of Bull Run. — . 
Lee Invades Maryland. — Harper's Ferry Captured. — Battle of 
Antietam. — Lee Retreats. — McClellan's Slowne?s ; His Removal. — 
Burnside in Command. — Battle of Fredericksburg. 

Preparations on a larce scale were made to move ihe chap. 

Army of the Potomac to its destination on the Peninsula. '— 

There were employed 113 steamers, 185 schooners, and 85 ^^^'^■ 
barges with tugboats. These were to pass down the bay 
and up the Rapiiahannoclc to Urbana, and thence to " reach 
the vicinity of Eichmond before they (the rebels) could con- 
centrate all their troops there from Manassas." The latter 
had railroad communication and could place their troops 
in defense of Eichnaond long before the Union army could 
make its way across a country more or less woody, with 
four rivers to pass, proverbial for tlieir marshy banks, which 
in the spring were always overflowed by freshets. This 
plan of advance, as the President suggested, was to leave 
a way open on the right" flank of the army by which a force 
accustomed to move with the rapidity of the enemy, or, as 
we have seen, the Union armies in the West, could come 



874 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAIT PEOPLE. 

CHAP, in overwhelming Bumbers and attack Washington before it 

would be possible to recall the Potomac army from its posi- 

■ tion. For this reason President Lincoln retained McDow- 
ell's division for some time that the Capital might be secure. 
As the insurgents had their spies, male and female, in 
Washington, every fact worth knowing was communicated 
to them, and the city when known to be in a position of 
defense was secure from attack. In a note to McClellan 
the President gives his reason for retainiaig McDowell. 
Tins reason will always be satisfactory to the people. He 
says: "After you left I ascertained- tlrat less than 30,000 
unorganized men, without a single field battery, were all 
you designed to be left for the defense of Washington and 
Manassas Junction, and part of this even was to go to Gen- 
eral Hooker's old position." 

The Confederate General T. J. Jackson — afterward 
•^ar. Venown as "Stonewall" — made a dash at Winchester, where 
General Shields was in command, but after a day's skir- 
mishing and fighting retired in tiie night up the valley, 
destroying all tiie bridges on the route. The Baltimore 
and Ohio Railway, through the exertions of the chivalrous 
General Lander, was once more put in order that supplies 
could be brought to- Washington. General Lander had 
been wounded in a previous battle, but would not retire, 
though urged by his physician, -and in consequence his 
great exertions led to his death. 

The enemy had been for some time leisurely evacuating 
Manassas and transporting their war material by railway to 
Richmond without interference from the Union army. 
Twenty hours after the fact was known along the 
front "it was made apparent at headquarters that the 
enemy was evacuating Centreville and Manassas as well as 
oa the LTpper Potomac." Yet orders were not issued for 
a pursuit until the enemy had been gone thirty-six hours. 
The Union army, after four days' marching, returned and 
j^' had " gained some experience on the march and bivouac," 
So said the General-in-Chief. 



1862. 



MOVEMENT OF THE ARMY — MANASSAS ABANDONED. 875 

" General Joe Johnston had 44,000 men at Centreville chap. 

i-iJi.. 

and Manassas, and Jackson had 6,000 in the Shenandoah 
Valley. Johnston fSiially fell back behind the Eapidau, 
deemed a more defensive position than the Rappahannock, 
of which it is a branch."' 

Two divisions — General Heintzelman commander — left 
Alexandria on transports for Fortress Monroe. Several 
days after McDowell's division was ready to move, and as it Mar. 
has been said the President retained it to make Washington 
safe ; but on June Cth, when McClellan might need them, 
a, large portion of the corps (Franklin and McCall's divi- 
sions) was dispatched to him, who says in a note to the 
President, " I shall be in iserfect readiness to move forward 
to take Richmond tlic moment McCall reaches here and 
the ground will admit the passage of artillery." 8. 

The plan adopted by McClellan to reach Richmond was 

by the peninsula formed by the York and James Rivers ; 

the latter not used lest the Merrimac should interfere, 

though she was closely blockaded by the Monitor and other 

war vessels. For one entire month the Union army was Apr. 

en-zacred in making the most elaborate redoubts and ijaral- ^^■ 
- ^ . . to 

lels, and placing in order siege guns, while the enemy could Jiay 

leavo at any moment, as their rear was open and unob- ^■ 

structed. The Confederate government never intended to 

make a stand at Yorktown, and General Magruder had only 

about 11,000 men to defend a line "embracing a front from 

Yorktown to Milberry Point, thirteen and a half miles." 

But when the comparatively immense force of McClellan 

appeared, and after a delay of ten days or more began to 

dig trenches and not attack, General Joe Johnston availed 

himself of the delay to join Magruder with 53,000 men," 

and he only remained to make a show of defense until 

Richmond could be thoroughly fortified. Had the Union 

army at once advanced with its much superior numbers, 

Magruder would have fallen back toward Richmond. 

' Life of Lee, p. U. ■> Life of Lee, p. 72. 



y76 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 



CHAP. Magruder, surprised that he was not attacked, says : 

— •'• In a few days the object of McClellan's delay was appa- 

^^^'^' rent. In every direction in front of our lines, through 
intervening woods and along the open fields, earthworks 
began to appear." McClellan made requisitions upon tlie 
War Department for siege guns, stating that tlie enemy 
had within his entrenchments " not less than 100,000 men, 
probably more," and that " here is to be fought the great 
battle that is to decide the existing contest," yet the way 
was open for the Confederates to i-etire to Richmond when- 
ever they chose. He also complained of his want of men. 
Mr. Lincoln wrote in reply: •' Your dispatches, complain- 
ing that you are not properly sustained, while they do not 
ofifend me, pain me very much. He reminds the General- 
in-Chief that he has with him 85,000 effective men, and e>i 
route enough to make 108,000, remarking : " By delay the 
enemy will relatively gain upon you ; that is, he will gain 
faster by fortifications and reinforcements than you can by 
reinforcements alone." After further suggestions and ex- 
pressions of kindness, he closed by saying — " But you must 
act." Time passed on, the enemy making a bold front to 
deceive the Union commander, and when he was ready to 
May open with his siege guns, it was discovered one morning 
that the enemy were gone; their rearguard, even, was far 
on its way toward Kichmond. The Federal gunboats 
passed up York river convoying transports, carrying Frank- 
lin's division to West Point, twenty-five miles above 
Yorktown, wliere it arrived the next day. This capture of 
Yorktovvn was hailed as an important victory by the people, 
and excited hopes of the speedy crushing of the rebellion. 
The Confederates, meantime, retired as best they could 
on account of the muddy roads, made so by a pouring 
rain, which continued for thirty-six hours, and halted to 
retard the pursuit at Williamsburg, twelve miles above 
Yorktown, at which place earthwork defenses had been 
tiirowh up some time before, mostly by the labor of slaves. 
About noon the same day the Union cavalry overtook the 



BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 877 

Confederate army and ascertained their position, but imper- ^?^^- 
fectlv. Tbe next morning early Heintzelman arrived with — 

' • • • tr} ^ ... 1862 

liis division, Smitli's and Hooker's divisions soon after, j^jg.' 
The latter commenced the battle at 7-1 A. M. At 10 A. m. 5." 
the enemy endeavored to tarn the Union left, but Hooker 
persistently held his place, and for six hours the battle 
raj;ed on this point ; the mire was so deep that artillery 
could scarcely be handled. There was a lamentable want 
of cooperation among the division commanders, though 
General Sumner was nominally in command of the whole 
force, McClellan being still at Yorktown. 

Early in tlie afternoon ammunition began to fail 
Hooker's men. Messenger after messenger had been sent to 
urge on Kearney's division, which was retarded beyond pre- 
cedent by the almost impassable roads. Heintzelman and 
Hooker held their position by bayonet charges alone ; it 
seemed a carnage to stand any longer owing to the de- 
ficiency of ammunition. " Siiall we retire ?" said Heintzel- 
man to Hooker. " No sir," said tiie latter ; "if we must 
fall, let those responsible for it be made to answer ; tve 
cannot leave this post." " Just my views," said Heintzel- 
man. Presently a hurrah was heard above the din ; 
Kearney's men, begrimed with mud, were coming through 
tiie forest. Heintzelman waved his wounded arm and 
shouted them a welcome, and called to the musicians, 
" Give us Yankee Doodle, boys !" and a cheer of triumph 
rose along the whole line as these brave men moved to the 
conflict. "On to the front!" shouted Heintzelman, and 
Hooker, knowing the ground, led forward the brigade 
without a moment's delay. The enemy fell back to their 
earthworks. " Now for the charge, boys !" was shouted, and 
they carried the rifle-pits and one redoubt at the point of 
the bayonet. The enemy tried again and again to recover 
the position, but were as often repulsed. 

In another part of the field were fimnd two redoubts 
unoccupied ; of these Generals Hancock's and Smith's divis- 
ions took iwssession. Soon the Confederates discovered 



1883. 



.g78 HISTOET OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 

*^LX.^' their loss, and made an effort to recover them. Hancock 
feigned to retreat, and they rushed on to make an assault. 
The Federals, at the proper moment, wheeled and rapidly 
delivered several deadly volleys, and then charged upon the 
surprised enemy, secured 500 prisoners, and scattered the 
remainder. Night came on ; the Union soldiers remained 
on the field, sleeping for the most part on the. muddy 
gi'ound, without shelter or food. General McClellan ar- 
rived just as the battle closed. 

During the night Johnston withdrew fiom the Williams- 
burg defenses and passed over to the south side of the 
Chickaliominy, leaving on the field his dead and badly 
wounded — about 1,000. Colonel Averil pursued with a 
cavalry force and captured a large number of prisoners. 
The Union army lost 456 killed and 1,400 wounded ; the 
rebel loss was never reported. 

The exposure and labor sent a great number of the 
Union soldiers to tiie hospitals. Here is where that blessed 
institution, "The United States Sanitary Commission,"' 
came to the rescue of the wounded and sick .soldiers. This 
" Commission " sprang from the benevolence of the people 
themselves, who cheerfully gave their money to sustain it, 
and ladies of the highest culture and refinement often vol- 
unteered as nurses. Tens of thousands of wounded and 
sick soldiers were thus aided, and received, under the cir- 
cumstances, tlie tenderest care. The influence of that 
"Commission" has been felt throughout Christendom ; and 
commissions modeled after it have blessed the poor soldiers 
of Europe in wars since the close of the great rebellion. 

Meantime, General Huger was destroying all the war 
material and ships, to the amount of more tlian ten mill- 
ion dollars, at the navy-yard at Gosport, preparatory to 
evacuating Korfolk, when Magruder would leave Yorktown. 
The next day Commodore Tatnal, who commanded her, 
gave orders to blow up the Merrimac. Now was the time 
May *°'' ^^^C'lellan to change his base to the James, which he 
11. had wished to do when the "monster" was supposed to be 



EXCITEMENT IN KICHSIOND — LAW OF CONSCKIPIION. 879 

iu the way. The gunboats passed up the James, silericing "-'P^P- 

the hostile batteries, until they reached Drury's Bluff, eight 

1862 
miles below Kichraond ; ou the Bluff was Port Darling, so jj^y 

high that the shots from the gunboats passed over, wbile its 16. 
guns were depressed so as to make plunging shots. 

These advances caused a thrill of consternation in Rich- 
mond, for the citizens and the authorities thought the 
Union army would promptly follow up its successes. The 
Confederate Congress refused to remain, but adjourned, 
failing to manifest the proper confidence in the government 
or army. Even in the Presidciit's mansion was "made a 
painful exhibition to the South of the weakness and the 
fears of those entrusted with its fortunes." Preparations 
were made to remove the public archives to Columbia, S. C. 
But when it was seen that McClellan, instead of working 
his way up the James, turned aside to follow uj) the Chick- 
ahominy, some of the citizens recovered from their alarm, 
and held a meeting and jiassed resolutions "to stand by the 
city or lay it in ashes" before it should full into the hands 
of the Federals. A strange infatuation seemed to seize the 
Southern leaders to destroy the property of their own peo- 
ple ; lest towns should bo occupied by Union soldiers, they 
would burn them. Thus Magruder had laid in ashes the 
beautiful village of Hampton on the approach of the Union 
amiy. They seemed to act without reason. If they suc- 
ceeded in separating from the free States, their towns would 
be safe for themselves; and if they did not succeed, they 
would only come back under the old flag, when their homes 
and property would be as secure to their owners as they 
always had been. In truth, these leaders were very free 
with not only the property, but with the individual rights 
of their own people. Their conscription act was cruel in 
the extreme and enforced without mercy. It read : "Every 
male citizen between the ages of 18 and 35 is declared ly 
virtue of his citizenship to be i)i the military service of the 
Confederate States." Thus, wherever found, male citizens 
between these ages could be put in the ranks by the officer 



1862. 



880 HISTORT OF THE AMEEICAK PEOPLE." 

<-'HAP. ill command. The 103'alty of the South is proved "by tlie 
general and continued submission of the people to the 
impressment system as practiced — such a tyranny, I believe, 
as no other high-spirited people ever endured."' In the 
free States, when a draft was necessary and ordered, the 
person thus drafted could furnish a substitute ; and the 
people, having ascertained the quotas of their respective 
counties or districts, came forward of their own accord and 
provided the means to pay the men who entered t)ie army ; 
and, if they had families, pledged themselves to support 
them while the husband was in the field. 

General Banks was in the Shenandoah Valley, his 
troops not exceeding 5,000 ; as he had been stripped of two 
divisions, one that of General Shields, sent to General 
McDowell at Fredericksburgh ; the other. General Blen- 
■ ker's, to Fremont, in West Virginia. General Jackson was 
sent by Johnston, with 15,000 men, to pounce u2ion Banks, 
drive him out of tlie Valley, make a demonstration on 
Wasliington, and delay the movements of McClellan. Gen- 
eral Banks had a small force stationed at Front Eoyal to 
protect the people from roving marauders ; this force Jack- 
son attacked, but, warned hy a contraband, it fell back, 
skirmishing all the way toward Winchester, wliere Banks 

May was. The latter made bis arrangements, and at 2 A.M. his 
^^' troops, artillery, baggage and hospital stores were on their 
march to the Potomac. This retreat was one continued 
skii-misb, and some severe fighting. Banks deserves credit 
that, with his limited force, he brought nearly all his train 
and men safely across the river, and then halted to dispute 
the passage. Jackson did not linger, for he heard that 
Generals Shields and Fremont were coming to fall upon his 
rear, but escaped by great skill and joined Johnston, hav- 
ing accomplished nothing of importance, but lost by death 
Colonel Ashby. unquestionably the most competent com- 
mander of cavalry in the Confederate service. In a few 
weeks Banks was at his old post. 

' Johnston's Narrative, p. 425. 



THE CHICKAHOMINT — FAIR OAKS. 881 

As an evidence of the patriotism of the free States, it chap. 

may be mcutioned that when Mr, Lincoln called upon 

1863 
those near at hand for volunteers to repel Jackson and j^f^y 

defend the capital, in a few daj's nearly sixty regiments 28. 

reported themselves ready to march. 

The advance of tlie Union army was slow ; it did not 
reach the Cliickahomiuy until the 31st, when the left wing, 
unmolested, passed the river at Bottom's Bridge, to the 
South side, and the right wing remained on the North side; May 
the whole line extending twelve miles to Cold Hai-bor 
the extreme right. Says General Barnard, ebief-engineer of 
the Army of the Potomac: "Tiiis river, at the season we 
struck it, was one of tlie most formidable obstacles that 
could be opposed to the marcli of an army," '■ The 
stream flows through a belt of heavily timbered swamp, 
which averages three to four hundred yards wide;" "and 
the water when but a foot or two above its summer level 
overqireads the whole swamp."' 

From the White House — the head quarters — on York 
river, supplies came on steamers. General McDowell had 
his division at Fredericksburg, and it was designed, if nec- 
essary, that be should join McClellan. The Union army 
lay in an exposed position from May 21st to the 31st, the 
left wing south of this daugei'ous river and the right north : 
Barnard says, the bridges and pontoons were ready ; and the 
entire right wing of the army could have passed the river any 
time after the 24tii. Should a storm arise, the river swamps 
■would be impassable for either wing ; for this storm the ^^^ 
enemy waited : it came, and for two days they attacked the and 
left wing furiously. This battle is known as that of Fair ^^ 
Oaks or Seven Pines, one of the most bloody contests of the 
war, in which both armies displayed heroic bravery. Tlie 
enemy were compelled to retire, and Heintzelman and Sum- 
ner wished to march upon Richmond, only five miles 
distant; — in truth Heintzelman's division reached a point 

' Barnard's Reportr, p. 18 



1863. 



882 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, within four miles, but the General-in-ehief would not per- 
mit the movement. Heintzelman, foreseeing the peril of 
having tiie army divided by that dangerous river, had given 
warning days before, of what the enemy evidently intended ; 
and General Sumner on his own responsibility passed tlie 
river from the north side on a temporary bridge, and by the 
presence of his troops the fortunes of tlie day were saved. 
These tn'o generals handled their forces independently of 
each other ; there was no supreme authority on the field, as 
McOlellan was seven miles away. The Confederate loss was 
about 8,000, that of the Federals about 5,000. In this bat- 
tle General Johnston was severely wounded, and General 
Robert E. Lee was appointed in his place to the command 
of the Confederate army in front of Richmond. 

After this battle, the Union army remained in its origi- 
nal position. The danger of thus separating the two wings 
by the river w:is still the same, and Lee, the new commander, 
did not fail to take advantage of the blunder. McClellan 
was still hesitating, it would seem, whether or not to change 
his base to the James ; he now telegraplied to tlie President 
that the enemy had 300,000 men. Says one authority, " the 
Confederate Capital had for its defence but 100,000 men at 
most." This included those in garrison in the forts around 
Richmond, wliile Childe says "on the 20th of June the 
army of Northern Virginia numbered 70,000 fighting 
men."' From June 1st to the 30th, the right wing of the 
Union army lay isolated on the north side of the Chicka- 
hominy ; a tempting bait which Lee laid plans to secure. 
'' The Confederate army covered Richmond, extending from 
the James river, where its extreme right commenced, to the 
Chickahominy beyond Meadow Bridge, on which its extreme 
left abutted." General Huger commanded the right. 
General Magruder the center and General A. P. Hill the 
left, while the divisions of Longstreet and D. H. Hill, drawn 
up behind and beyond the left, were to support, at the fitting 

1 Life of Lee, pp. 75, 77. 



1803. 



26. 



THE SEVEN DATS' BATTLE BEGINS — COLD HARBOK. 883 

moment, the turniDg movement of Jiickson. General Lee ^f^^- 
amused McClellan by making demonstrations on his front, 
while Jackson, in accordance with orders, was making a 
long detour to attack the rear of the exiwsed right wing. 

Meanwhile, Lee sent General James E. B. Stuart with a 
cavalry force to reconnoiter, which he accomplished effec- "^"^ 
tively ; bringing confirmation of the exposed condition of 
the right wing of the Union army. '• The Federal forces 
offered the strange spectacle of an army invading a country 
and, altbougli superior in numbers and resources, awaiting 
the attack, instead of pressing forward and engaging itself 
in conflict.'" 

McClellan, on the eve of June 26th, fully determined to Jute 
change his base ; but now Jackson was almost ready to 
attack his rig"lit, and. it was a far different matter to move 
with a persistent enemy pressing on the rear than to move 
unobstructed. During the forty days in the marshes along 
the Chickahominy, his army was almost decimated by 
diseases thus contracted. Two days before, June 24th, a 
deserter brought word tliat Jackson was preparing to attack 
the Union army at Mechanicsville, on the extreme right. 
McClellan sent two trusty negroes to verify the deserter's 
story. They soon returned, reporting that the enemy's 
pickets were at Hanover Court Souse. An attack was evi- 
dently impending. At last the resolution was taken to com- 
mence changing the base to the James. In the midst of 
preparations to pass the river, and about 3 p.m.. General 
D. H. Hill's division, 14,000 strong, tired of waiting to 
hear Jackson's attack, passed the river at Meadow Bridge, June 
and assaulted Fitz John Porter's division at Mechanicsville. 
Here began the famous "seven days' contest." 

General Porter, seeing the large force of the enemy, fell 
back to a strong position at a crossing of Beaver Creek, to 
which the enemy soon came up and endeavored to cross by 
the two bridges, but were i-epulsed from both, one after the 

' Life of Lee, pp. 79 and 86. 



26. 



1863. 



ggj. HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, other; at 9 p. m. the battle ceased, the rebels losing "be- 
tween three and four thousand ; the Federals much less." 
The way was open, and during the night Longstreet joined 
Hill, and both moved round Porter's right to unite with 
Jackson the next day, and to make an attaclc on McCall's 
division at Cold Harbor. Learning of this movement 
McClellau ordered by telegraph that line to be abandoned 
and a new one taken, extending from near and beyond 
Gaines' Mill, and to Powhite Swamp, thus covering the 
approaches to the bridges over the Chickahominy, which 
must be made in order to change the base. During the 
night heavy guns were put in position on the South side to 
protect the bridges, and numerous wagons were passed over. 
"The delicate operation of witlidi'awing the troops from 
Beaver Dam Creek was commenced shortly before daylight, 
and successfully executed." 

General Lee joined his army in tlie morning, but delayed 
to attack till he could hear from Jackson's guns ; without 
•waiting longer he, liowever, began the battle at 4 p. m., and 
it continued till eight. The greatest bravery was displayed 
on both sides ; at lialf-past five P. M. Jackson came upon the 
Union lines. The Federals, meanwhile, rushed and charged 
D. H. Hill's division, and to aid him Lee ordered Long- 
street to feign an attack on the center and left of the 
Federal right wing. But the latter, seeing the strength of 
the position, found he must make a real attack if ho would 
aid Hill's troops, and "five brigades rushed to the assault 
in double-quick time, but were received by a fire so terrible 
tliat they recoiled cowed." It was just after this that 
Jackson's troops came upon the ground. 

General Porter asked for aid, and General Slocum's 
division crossed the river to his assistance, and also other 
troops were sent over. At 6 p. m. the rebels made an 
attempt to break the Union line, but failed. An hour later 
they made a still more fierce attack, and gained the woods 
held by the left of the Federal right wing, and the Union 
soldiers fell back to a hill in the rear. Darkness came on, 



MAGRUDER'S report — BATTLES. 885 



The enemy, having been repulsed several times, did not chap7 
press their recent advantage. This battle of Cold Harbor. '— 

1S62 

or Gaines' Mill, was one of the hardest conflicts of the war. 
"The losses of the two armies were great — from 7,000 to 
8,000 on the Confederate side, and from 6,000 to 7,000 on 
that of the Federals.'" The Confederates persist in calling 
the movements of the subsequent days a retreat ; but the 
Federals call it a change of base, though undertaken too 
late. 

During the time this battle was in progress on the North 
side of the Chickahomiuy, the enemy were making demon- 
stration on the South side, in front of Heintzelman's, 
Keyes' and Sumner's corps. 

According to Childe the number of Confederates thus 
threatening amounted to only 25,000, while the number of 
Union soldiers held waiting was 70,000. Says Magruder in 
his report : " Had McClellan massed his whole force in 
column, and advanced it against any point of our line of 
battle, its momentum would have insured him success and 
the occupation of our works about Eichmond." And Bar- 
nard says: " As it was, the enemy fought with his wJwle 
force (except enough left before our lines to keep up 
ajipearances), and we fought with 37,000 men." The Com- 
mander-in-Chief's movements were all interfered with by 
his strange belief of the superior numbers of the enemy. 

During the following night the Union troops were with- 
drawn from the north side of the Chickahomiuy ; the 
trains, having passed over the day before, were far on their 
way toward the James. All the bridges over the river were 
blown to pieces- to prevent the enemy's crossing. It is sin- j^jj^ 
gnlar that not until this Friday evening did the corps 38. 
commanders learn that they were to " make a flank move- 
ment to the James river." 

To abandon strong fortifications on which they had 
spent twenty days of hard labor had a depressing effect on 

Life of Lee, p. 97. 



886 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, the soldiers, yet they bore up manfully uuder the disap- 
pointment, though they had been at one time within four 



miles of Eichmoud. Notwithstanding this depression, in 
the three succeeding battles of Savage Station, Glendale, 
White Oak Swamp and Malvem Hill, the last and most 
29^0 icoportant, they manifested marvelous courage and endur- 
July ance. On the morning after the battle of Gaines' Mill 
McClellau wrote to the Secretary of War a letter closing in 
the following singular terms : "If I save this army now, I 
tell you plainly tliat I owe no thanks to you, or to any 
other persons in Washington. You have done your best to 
sacrifice this army." The incompetency in leading and 
directing this unfortunate army, time has placed elsewhere 
than with the Secretary of War. 

General Porter's corps rested for a few hours, then 
pressed forward toward tlie James, through the White Oak 
Swamp. Nearly GOO wounded men, by order of the Com- 
mander-in-Chief, were left under a flag of truce at Savage 
Station, "with a proper complement of surgeons and at- 
tendants, and a bountiful supply of rations and medical 
stores." The whole Union army withdrew, slowly and 
deliberately, and the enemy followed after, but were repulsed 
from time to time, when they made attacks, and in no in- 
stance did tlisy in the main delay the withdrawal ; for the 
corps commanders (as the Commander-in-Cliief was in the 
advance) managed, under general orders, to take turns in 
repelling the enemy and holding them in check until the 
portion of the army in motion moved to a certain point, 
then those that held the opposing force in check passed on, 
while fresh troops awaited in well-chosep positions the 
approaching enemy. A part of the rebel army made detours 
by taking country roads, but when they came upon the 
line of march of tlie Union army they found it jireparcd to 
meet any assault. In this withdrawal the Confederate army 
lost many more soldiers than the Federal. Finally the 
advance reached Malvem Hill, on which McClellan an-anged 
to make a stand. General Frauklin held "Stonewall" 



BATTLE OF MALVERN HILL. 88 1 

Jacksou in check for half a day at Wliite Oak Swamp chap. 

bridge, then at 10 p.m., without orders, but with wisdom, 

withdrew : General Sumuer of his own will followed, then 
Heintzelman and then Hooker, a7id early in the morning 
they took their position on MalYcrn Hill. This hill, 16 
miles below Richmond, " is an elevated plateau about a mile 
and half long by three-fourths wide, and well cleared of 
timber, and with several converging roads running over it." 
On this plateau was the Union army, center and left, right 
extending to cover the passage to Harrison's Landing ; 
thither the trains had passed the night before. On the liill 
sixty pieces of field artillery were placed in position ; and 
also ten siege guns. This decision to make a stand on 
Malvern Hill B.arnard says "probably saved the army of 
the Potomac from destruction." 

Lee, who had been laboring for days to unite his whole 
army tliat he might, as usual, attack weak points in force, 
now found himself in position with his entire army, 60,000 
or 70,000 strong under their respective commanders. He 
resolved to envelope the position of the Union army, but 
delayed the attack till 4 p.m., as he seems not to have had juiy 
his preparations made ; meanwhile, the Union soldiers of 
their own accord were throwing up numerous earthworks to 
defend certain positions. Tlie attack was made on the 
Union left ; the Confederates advancing their batteries in 
an ojien field, in front of woods where lay the men to storm 
the Union lines when their batterjes had silenced the 
Federal guns. But their own batteries were soon disabled 
by the well-directed fire of the Union artillery, and the 
storming column had no oiiportuuity to carry out their 
orders. " Instead of oi'dering up a hundred or two hundred 
pieces of artillery to play on the Yankees, a single battery 
was ordered up and knocked to pieces in a few minutes ; 
one or two others shared the same fate," says Hill in his 
report. 

"At six o'clock General D. H. Hill, deceived by what 
he thought was the signal for the attack, charged with all 



1. 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, his division ; but findiug himself unsupported, altliough 



Jaclvsou might have hastened to his aid, he was obliged to 
retire with great loss. Magruder also, on the Confederate 
right, made an attempt which ended like Hill's. The flux 
and reflux of the rival armies lasted till night.'" The gun- 
boats joined in tbe fray, and made great havoc in the ranks 
of the Confederates. Tbe Union army, according to the 
original design, withdrew to Harrison's Landing; and the 
following niglit Lee fell back with his shattered troops to 
the Richmoud»fortifications. Tbis ended the seven days' 
fighting and fearful loss of life, and the campaign became 
famous as the great failure of the war. The Union loss in 
killed, wounded and missing was 15,349; the Confederate, 
10,533. 

The most numerous and best drilled army of the nation 
had accomplished virtually nothing. With but one exception 
— Williamsburg — it had never been -led against the enemy, 
but, on the contrary, stood on the defensive. It was kept 
from May 25th to July 1st in the swamps along tbe Chiek- 
ahouiiny, where, amid the malarious influences and the 
broiling sun, tbe men became enervated to an unprece- 
dented degree. Yet be it said to the immortal honor of 
the soldiers and ofiicers composing this army, tliat they 
fulfilled their duty to their country, and under the most 
trying circumstances. They in every sense were the equals 
of their Western fellows who had been so much more suc- 
cessful. Prince De Joinville says: "If their primitive 
organization had been better, the survivors of this rude 
campaign, I do not fear to assert, might be regarded as the . 
equals of the best soldiers in the world.'" "An army 
which was able in the midst of so many trials and disasters 
to continue fighting all day, and marching all night, 
enduring its defeats bravely and without flinching, deserves 
the respect and admiration of both friends and foes.'" 

' Life of Lee, p. 108. 

"- De Joinville's Army of the Potomac, p. 96. 

* Life of Lee, p. 110. 



pope's aemt— cedar mountaik. 889 

McClellau at once asked for more men, and tlie goY- *^?^^ 

ernment sent a sutiicieut number to make in the aggregate, 

oo o ^ 1862 
by July 20th, 101,6yl men, present for active service. 

The President issued a call for 300,000 more men ; and he 
also, to secure greater efficiency, consolidated the three 
small armies of McDowell, Banks and Fremont, to the 

command of which — known as the "Army of Viroiuia" 

he api.ointed General John Pope. He was directed to 
cover Washington, as the way was open for a Confede- 
rate march on the Xational Capital, and McClellan by his 
position could offer no obstruction to such a movement. 
In truth, the enemy, emboldened by his inaction, resolved 
to try for Washington, and at least force his recall from the 
James. General Halleck, at the recommeudation of Gen- 
eral Scott, was appointed "to the command of the whole 
laud forces of the United States as commandcr-iu-cliief." 
Halleck assumed command, and after a Cabinet council 
visited the army on the James to judge for himself whether -^^y 
it should be withdrawn or not. "The majority of the 
ofBcers expressed themselves in favor of the withdrawal." 
The men had become so weakened because of the hot 
weather and the malaria of the swamps ttiat they were unfit 
to enter upon an advance. 

Pope's army when he took the field amounted to 42,000 J"ly 
men ; 5,000 of whom were cavalry — the latter somewhat • 
incfiScieut from want of drill and concentration. Detach- 
ments of cavalry reconnoitered and reported the enemy 
in force on the Eapidan and also at Madison Court 
Honse. Pope interposed his forces between them and the 
National Capital. The movements of the Coniederates 
puzzled the Union generals. Their presence was made ^f- 
known by an attack on General Banks. They arranged 
their forces in such a manner as to amount almost to an 
ambuscade, into which the Federals fell. At about 3 p.m. 
the battle began, and soon became general. At 6 o'clock 
Pope came upon the field and made some changes of posi- 
tion, which the enemy mistook for a retreat, and pressed on 



390 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP, and came into an open field and exposed themselves to a 
very destructive fire of artillery, which drove them back to 

1862 

^ ■ their covert of scrub-oak. Night came on, aod Jackson 
11- fell back and disappointed the Federals, who in the morn- 
ing expected to attack him. Jackson continued to retreat 
till he reached the south side of the Kapidan, leaving his 
badly wounded under a flag of truce. This is known as 
the battle of Cedar Mountain. 

A few days afterward Pope learned, from papers found 
on Stuart's adjutant, who had been captured, that the 
plans of the enemy were to march on Washington. Hal- 
leck telegraphed an order to McClellan to bring Lis army 
from tlie James to Washington. The latter asked that the 
order might be rescinded, and an advance on Richmond 
made by way of Petersburg. That movement was available 
two months before, but it was now too late, and Halleck 
insisted upon the order being obeyed, and it was complied 
with in a tardy manner. Halleck had already ordered the 
wounded and sick soldiers to be brought to northern hos- 
pitals, to remove all obstructions to active operations. 

At a convocation of tho Governors of the loj'al States 
it was recommended to tiie President to call for 300,000 
more men. The people of these States, though greatly 
disappointed and mortified at the sad failure, ncvertlieless 
■ labored with their usual energy to recruit tlie army and 
sustain the Government. When Lee learned of this, and 
that the army of the Potomac was orifered back to its old 
cpiartcrs, he acted promptly, sending a force under Jackson 
to crush Pope's army before it could be reinforced either by 
the new levies or by McClellau's army. He sent forward 
all tlie troops that could be spared from the fortifications 
at Richmond, leaving there only the inexperienced. Pope, 
learning of the number of the enemy in his front, fell back 

Aug. from tiie Rapidan to the Rappahannock, at all the fords 
of which they were checked. Soon the great mass of 
the Confederate army disappeared ; Jackson was making 
an unusual detour to reach the Shenandoah Valley and 



THE FIKST BATTLE. 891 

come in ou t'nc rear of Pope's army. The latter divined c^hap. 
the movemeut and wrote to that efEect to McDowell. — ; — 
Meauwhile,. Jacksou was pressing on over fields and bad 
roads, and appeared suddenly at Thoroughfare Gap, where 
the railway of Manassas Gap crosses the hills of Bull Eun. 
Tlioioughfare Gap was unoccupied, and Jackson, passing 
through, sent a detachment which overpowered the little 
garrison at Manassas Junction, and the hungry Confed- 
erates reveled iu the provisions on hand at that important 
point. The next day, Longstreel, with his division, joined 
Jackson ; with, him came Lee, who assumed command. 
Pope now came up with his forces. They had been march- 
ing and conntcrmarching for ten days to find the enemy, 
and wci'c weary. His army amounted to about 54,000 men, 
and not nioi'e than 500 efiective cavalry; Lee's army to 
70,000 efiec'dve men, according to Childe's account.^ Pope 
pressed on as Jackson witlidrew from the Junction, and 
prepared to give battle on the old Manassas ground, of 
July 21, ISGl. 

Gen. Sigel at 10 A.M. commenced the fight; the posi- 
tion of the enemy was well chosen behind the embankment 
of a railroad, and the Federal ai-rangements were equally 
as well made. The struggle was very severe during the 
day, and in the end was a drawn battle, though tiie Con- Aug. 
federates were driven back and the Federals occupied the 
field. There was want of concert in tlie attack and move- 
ments of the Union divisions; some of them did not 
carry out their orders fully, as, for instance, Fitz John 
Porters "'forces took no part wliatever in the action, but 
were suffered by him to lie idle on their arms, within sight 
and sound of the battle during the whole day." Had he 
come into it with liis 10,000 fresli men, no doubt the 
victory would have been complete. This was tiie second 
time within tv.'o days that Porter had delayed or refused to 
obey Gen. Pope. Ho was afterward tried by court-martial 
for this conduct and dismissed the service. 

The next day, about noon, the conflict was renewed : 



892 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE, 

CHAP, the line of battle was nearly five miles long. Portei-'s 

division now taking part and fighting bravely, and other 

Auff. divisions, such as Heintzelmau's and Reno's, maintaining 
30. their old reputation for persistent bravery and endurance. 
The contest extended along the line and raged for several 
hours ; the Confederates bringing up heavy reserves, and 
hurling mass after mass of troops upon the Federal left. 
These persistent efforts forced the left back one-half or 
three-fourths of a mile, but at dark they made a stand 
firm and unbroken. If the forces of McClellan had been 
at'Acquia Creek by the 20th of August, as ordered, they 
could have easily aided in this second battle of Bull Run ; 
but tardiness was the bane of that brave but unfortunate 
army ; and again there was want of harmony among the 
commanders of division, owing, it was said, to rivalries. 
Pope fell back to the intrenchments at Centerville, and 
Sent within a day or two retired to the defenses of the Capital, 
2. on the way to which was the severe skirmish of Chantilly, 
in which two most excellent officers were killed — General 
Stevens and General Kearney. General Pope asked to be 
relieved of further service in that department. The Union 
losses in all these conflicts amounted to nearly 15,000 men, 
killed, wounded and missing ; the Confederates lost between 
nine and ten thoiisand. These disasters caused the most 
intense excitement in the loyal States ; they were altogether 
so uncalled for and unexpected that the people were taken 
by surprise. But the effect was to rouse them to greater 
exertions and sacrifices than ever before. 

A party in the Confederacy had urged that their armies 
should take the offensive rather than the defensive ; and 
such had been the policy along the line of the Western 
Border States ; but in these their efforts had signally failed. 
Now the want of success of the Army of the Potomac 
and the witlidrawal of Pope's army induced Lee of jiis own 
Sept. accord to piish on his army, liis vanguard crossing the 
Potomac at the mouth of Monocacy Creek ; three days after 
the advance was at Frederick, Maryland. 



LEE INVADES MARYLAND — HAKPEE's FERRY. 893 

While the Confederates were thus moving, great con- chap. 

LiJv. 



1862. 



fusion reigned at Washington and -vicinity. General 
McClellan, in virtue of his position in his army and by 
direction of the President, took command of all the forces 
thus demoralized in and around tlie capital, and disjilayed 
his remarkable talents as an organizer by soon bringing 
order out of confusion. The Uuion army in a few days was 
jwepared to place itself between the invading foe and the 
capital, and also to gnard Baltimore. The army moved in 
the direction of the enemy ; Bnrnside led the left, Sumner 
the center, and Franklin the right. • 

General Lee and his officers were greatly chagi'ined be- 
cause the jieople of Maryland did not hasten to join the 
Confederates, though Lee Lad issued amoving proclamation, 
and laid before them in expressive terms the sorrows they 
endured from the oji^jressions of the United States Govern- 
ment ; but they — poor people — did not view it in that light. 

At Harper's Perry was General Miles with 11,500 men ; 
he had been assured that aid would be sent him. But Lee 
was unwilling to leave this force in his real', and says he, 
" The advance of the Federal army was so slow as to justify 
the belief that the reduction of Harper's Ferry would be 
accomplished, and our troops concentrated before they 
would be called on to meet it." Accordingly he sent 
Jackson, who moved rapidly, seized the heights that com- 
manded the Ferry, and compelled a surrender of the garri- 
son — t!ie aid coming just thirty hours too late. The cavalry, ggpt. 
however, escaped, and, on its way to join the Union army, ^^■ 
captured an imiiortant train of wagons belonging to the 
enemy. 

The Union advance entered Frederick, in which place 
was found an order of Lee's, dated the 0th, to his sub- 
ordinate generals, fully explaining his future movements. 
McClellan availed himself of this information, and ordered 
his entire force to certain points. There are two passes 
or gaps through the South Mountain — name given to the 
Blue Eidgc north of the Potomac — Cramjitou and Turn- 



894 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE.' 

CHAP, ers, within five miles of eacli ottier. The former of these 

'— General Franklin was ordered to seize, which he did after 

• a sliarp conflict, and passed through into Pleasant Valley to 
find the enemy in force. Bnrnside also had reached Tnrnei-'s 

Sent. Gap and found it held by D. H. Hill, with a strong force, 
and the crest of the mountain for a mile. The battle com- 
menced by a cannonade at daylight, lasting all day. The 
enemy withdrew the next night, having lost about 2,500 
men. They next appeared drawn up on the west side of 
Antietam Creek, professing to have gained their point in 
holding the Gap until Jackson could return from Harper's 
Ferry. In this battle was killed General Keno, a great loss 
to the Union army. 

General Lee's position was very strong, with the creek 
in his front, Sbarpsburg village one mile in his rear on 
the way to the Potomac, over which, in case of disaster, he 
_ could retreat. Over the creek were three stone bridges in 

a distance of nearly four miles. Lee's army faced east, and 
on his right he placed Longstrect, opposite the south bridge, 
then came D. H. Hill, then Hood, and then north of him, 
Jackson. McClellan's army faced west, and its left was 
opposite Longstreet and the south bridge. Here was placed 
Burnside's corps, then came Porter's in the centre, then 
Hooker's, and a portion of Sumner's on the right. 

The bridge on the Union extreme right, and also a ford, 

Sept. were unguarded, and in the aftei-noon, Hoolc^r, in obedience 
to orders, crossed the bridge and ford without op2:)osition ; 
but Lee had placed two of Hood's brigades under cover of 
the woods to receive the Federals as they moved southwest 
toward their line, and here the combat commenced. By 
this time it was dark and nothing decisive was done, both 
parties remaining in the woods. Hood's troops were re- 
lieved by a portion of Jackson's forces, and General Mans- 
field crossed the Antietam and joined Hooker, while Sumner 
had orders to cross at daylight. 

The sun rose clear and bright, and early in the morning 
the conflict began in earnest. Hooker taking the initiative. 



16. 



BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 895 

The assault was made by liis centre division — r'ennsjlvania chap. 
Keseives — under General Meade. The attack was so furious — ; — 
that after an hour's fighting, with the aid of the batteries 
on the east side of tlie creelc, the enemy were foi'ced to give Sept. 
way and retreat across an open field, beyond whicli were ^'- 
woods where they took shelter. Hooker advanced his 
centre and left over the open field, but when they ap- 
proaclied the woods the enemy re-formed, and being rein- 
forced, met them in tlie,open i:)lain with the most determined 
vigor. Both equally brave, this was one of the most terrible 
conflicts of the war, and continued until both sides, ex- 
hausted, retired as if by mutual consent. 

The Confederates had suffered greatly; several excellent 
oflBccrs had been slain or mortally wounded. Hooker's 
division had been almost bi'oken to pieces ; he called for 
Mansfield's division, which came on the ground about half- 
past 7 A.- M. Meanwhile, the Confederates had been rein- 
forced by D. H. Hill's division, which had been resting in 
the woods. Now commenced another bitter conflict. 
Hooker's broken corps and Mansfield's division were forced 
across the open field to the woods, and there they held their 
ground. The brave Mansfield was killed as he went to the 
front to examine the position, and Hooker, severely wound- 
ed, was carried from the field. At this time, 9 a. m.. 
General Sumner brought uj) liis corps, and drove one 
portion of the enemy back to the woods, and another por- 
tion was withdrawn. These, again reinforced, made an 
attack upon Sumner's right, which was much a^lvaneed, 
under Sedgwick, and drove it back ; then the Confederates 
retired to a safe position in the rear at 11 a. m. Thus, be- 
tween the rebel left and Union right was the conflict into 
which were sent reinforcements by both Lee and McClellan. 
Little was done by either the right or the center of the 
Union army in the afternoon. 

Thus far nothing had been done on the Union left. At 
8 a.m. Burnside had been ordered to force the lower bridge, 
and occupy the Sharpsburg heights ; but not till 1 p.m. was 



HISTOKT OF THE AMEEICAX PEOPLE. 

^Y,x7' the bridge carried, aud not till two hoars afterward were 
the heights captured, and without much struggle. The 
guns of the enemy had fully commanded the west end of the 
bridge ; Burnside held the heights for a few hours, and then 
fell back to the bridge. 

The next day each army rested ; McClellau was re- 
inforced by two divisions, and Lee was satisfied to hold his 
Sept. position. During the following night he withdrew, and the 
next day crossed the Potomac unmolested. McClellan 
was urged by the authorities at Washington to pursue and 
harass the enemy while the roads were good, but he was 
not ready, and the golden opportunity was lost to crush 
Lee's army, or drive it on its way to Richmond a disorgan- 
Oct. ized force. Finally the President visited the army himself, 
and was convinced that it could move as well as Lee's, and, 
on his return, consulting with the Secretary of War and 
^^*- General Halleck, he sent a peremptory order to cross the 
Potomac and attack the enemy, lying in the vicinity of 
Winchester and Martinsburg. 

Lee, emboldened by McClellau 's inactivity, sent Stuart 

Qpj on a raid, with nearly 3,000 cavalry, into Pennsylvania. He 

10. made a complete sweep around the Union army, passing 

through Mercersburg, Chambersburg, and several other 

places, levying contributions on them all. and finally crossed 

the Potomac safely, scarcely losing a man. 

McClellan did not obey the order of his superior officer, 
the President, given October 6th, but still lingered, and the 
jg President wrote him a letter, dated October 16th, in which 
he says : " Are you not over-cautious when you assume 
that you can not do what the enemy is constantly doing? 
Should you not claim to be at least his equal in prowess and 
act upon the claim ?" This expostulatory letter was written 
in the kindest spirit. 

McClellan at that time iiad an army of 130,000 men, 
yet he did not move, giving one excuse after another, for 
the most part trivial. As in the fall of the year before, 
be permitted the fine weather to pass without putting his 



BATTLE 01? FEEDERICKSBUEG. 897 

army in motion; at length the patient President removed chap. 

him from the command of the army, and ordered him to 

report at Trenton, N. J., his home, and appointed General j^^y' 
A. B. liurnside to succeed him. 5. 

General Burnside thought it better for tlie army to 
move direct to Fredericksburg, and crossing the river, force 
their way to Eichmond. General Halleck, Commander-in- 
Chief, in an interview with Burnside disapproved of the 
movement, but finally consented and returned to Washing- 
ton with the understanding that pontoon bridges should be 
sent across the country to Fredericksburg for the army to 
pass over. The army moved at once toward that point, 
while the enemy were deceived by demonstrations at several 
places ; but when the army aj'rived opposite Fredericksburg Nov. 
the pontoons had not come ; by an inexcusable blundering ^^• 
the proper officers had failed to send them. The object 
was to seize the heights in the rear of the town, and if 
storms came on go into winter quarters and then in the 
spring push on to Eichmond. 

While Burnside was waiting for the pontoons General 
Lee arrived with Longstreet's division, soon followed b]' 
others, and began to fortify the heights. Meanwhile, rains 
came and the Eappahannock was much swollen. Finally, 
the pontoons were laid in the afternoon, under the fire of 
sharpshooters and artillery. The crossings were to be made 
at three points the nest morning, above the town, opposite Dec. 
and below, and the attack to follow. The crossings were 
made in a very herojc manner, but under great disad- 
vantages to tlic Federals from the position of the enemy 
and their numbers, for their whole army was on those 
.heiglits. 

The Federal right made a series of assaults upon the 
enemy's enti-enched line, nearly five miles long and crowned 
with field artillery. The Union heavy batteries on Stafford 
Heights on the North side of the river could scarcely reach 
this entrenched line ; between this line and the river was 
an open space within range of a double row of rifle-pits and 



898 



HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 



1862. 



CHAP, a strong infantry force concealed right and left. Against 
these the Union soldiers were led ; it is marvelous that so 
few of them were killed, and that they inflicted so much 
injury upon the Confederates. Assault after assault was 
made, and the brave Union soldiers rushed heroically into 
this arena of death. In no other instance in the war were 
Union soldiers led so recklessly. Night came on and the 
conflict closed. Only about 25,000 of Lee's troops were 
engaged, and they behind entrenchments. Two days 
passed without any special movement being made by cither 
army, except the Federal batteries on Stafford Heights b^ 
up a cannonade on the enemy's entrenchments. The next 
night came on a violent storm, during which Burnside 
^' skillfully withdrew his army to the North side of the 
Eappahannock. The Confederates lost 4,101 killed and 
wounded, and the Union army 10,233. 




/2f. ^ /^^f-i^^ym.^' 




.'fL^.A^^ 



<?Z'^^^.^ 




-^s^J^, 




rib».,i.!fZ)(P.^^;z. ^-^^^fc^ 



CHAPTER LXr. 



LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION — CONTINUED, 

Invasion of Keutucky.— Buell'a Marc'a. — Battle of Penyville — Battle 
of luka. — Pi-eliiuinary ProclamatioD. — Opp.jsition; the Effect. — 
The Slave's II 'pe. — Battle of Murfrresboro. — Cjafederate Pail- 
urra — ExperiirioQ up tbe Yazoo. — Capture of Fort Hindman. — 
GalvestoQ Occupied — President's Message, — Finances. — Northern 
Industii'js.— Confederate Finances — Battle of Chan'ellorville. — 
* Death of Stonewall Jackson.— Withdrawal of the Army. 

We return to the West. The Uuion array took possession 
of Corinth, on tlie Memphis and Charleston Railway. The, 
same day General Halleck sent the Army of the Ohio under chap. 
General Buell toward Chatlanooga, an important strategic 



position on the same road in East Tennessee, two hundred l^*'^- 
niiles east of Corinth ; he also ordered General Grant to 
protect West Tennessee, and to operate from Memjihis 
against Viclvsburg. Buell was to pass along the road, put May 
it in repair, and by that route receive his supplies. General 
0. M. Mitchel iiad previously held a portion of the same 
road, and had advanced into North Alabama, occupjnng 
Decatur and Floi-ence, and General G. W. Morgan had also 
seized Cumberland Gap, the gate of East Tennessee. 

These commands, when united with Buell's force, 
amounted to about 40,000 men — not half enough to accom- 
plish what was required. In truth, these commands were 
depicted to augment the army around Washington. Mean- 
while, the Confederates planned to cause Buell's withdrawal 



9QQ HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

c^P. from his position. Tliey determined to pass to liis rear, 
invade Kentucky, tlireatening both Cincinnati and Louis- 



"■ ville, and force him to return for the iatter's protection. 
And Geaeral Bragg, who had superseded Beauregard, and 
General Kirby Smith, witli about 50,000 men, invaded 
Southeastern Kentucky and advanced toward the Ohio, pil- 
laging as they went ; while John Morgan and Forrest, each 
having about 1,500 cavalry, were riding and driving in 
every direction, plundering villages in the same region, 
defeating small parties of Union men, and destroying 
bridges. Buell was ordered to cross the State of Tennes- 
see and meet these forces, and drive them out of Kentucky. 
He moved from North Alabama as speedily as possible, and 
came into the State three days behind Bragg, who had 
made a push from Glasgow toward Louisville to find Gen- 
Sept, eral Nelson prepared to repel him, and he prudently fell 
• back to Bardstown to unite with Kirby Smith, lest Buell 
should overtake him. The latter arrived at Louisville, a«d 
as soon as possible went in pursuit, thus interfering very 
much with tlie enemy's plans of carrying off plunder, for 
which they had impressed all the wagons, mules, horses, 
and slaves of the country. They found they must fight, 
Oct. and they made a stand at Perryville. Buell came up 
and a severe battle was fought, with various success during 
the day, but at the close the Federals had a decided advati7 
tage and made preparations to attack the enemy vigorously 
in the morning; but during the night the Confederates left 
their position and fell back to Harrodsburg. Thence Bragg 
continued his retreat from the State, disappearing through 
Cumberland Gap, to reappear in Middle Tennessee, in the 
vicinity of Murfreesboro, some months afterward. Buell 
was relieved of his command and General Kosecraus ap- 
Oct. pointed to succeed him. He was of the over-cautious 
school; a most excellent disciplinarian, but failed some- 
times to make a dash. 

The failure of Bragg and Smith in Kentucky caused 
the greatest chagrin tliroughout tlie Confederacy. Their 



30, 



BATTLE OF lUKA — PRELIMIXARX PROCLAUATIOX. QQl 

programme had beeu to recover Kentucky and drive the chap. 

^" - *' LXI 

Federals out of West Tennessee and reoccujjy Fort Doiiel- '- 

son. This plan was sadly intorfei'ed with, first at Inka, ■^^'*^" 
Miss., where Rosecraus defeated Sterling Price and cap- 
tured 1,000 prisoners; and the same Union oencral treated Sept. 
the Confederates still more severely at Corinth, In this ~ ' 
fight the enemy, under Generals Van Dorn, Price, Lovel, 
and Rust, had about 38,000 men, according to their own Oct. 
estimate ; the Union force was about half that number. 
They retreated in haste, leaving on the field their dead, 
1,433 ; wounded, 5,093 ; and ]n-isoners, 3,248 ; the Union 
loss was only 315 killed and 1,813 wounded. So dissatis- 
fied were the authorities at Eichmond that General Van 
Dorn was relieved and John C. Pemberton appointed to 
succeed bim. 

After the battle of Antietam the President issued, on 
September 33d, a preliminary Proclamation of Emancipation Sept. 
of the slaves belonging to those engaged in the rebellion, to ^^• 
take place January 1, 1863, unless the States thus engaged 
should be ''in good faith rciiresented in the Congress of 
the United States by members chosen thereto at elections 
wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State 
shall have participated." This "shall be deemed conclu- 
sive evidence that such State and the people thereof have 
not been in rebellion against the United States." Here was 
an offer to the insnrgent States to lay down their arms 
within one hrmdred days, and save their slaves. But the 
same infatuation still prevailed ; they would make no con- 
cessions ; encouraged by tlie hope that the people of the 
free States would become divided on the question of eman- 
cipation, and in the end they would secure a separation 
from the Union. 

This was pre-eminently a war measure ; for the slaves 
laboring by thousands on rebel forti6cations, or in cultiva- 
ting the fields at home while their masters were in the 
Confederate armies, were as useful to the rebellion as if they 
were soldiers in their army itself ; and the slave became as 



902 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAW PEOPLi;. 



1863. 



"l^^' "coatrabaud" of war, as a horse used to draw artillery on 
the tield of battle, or carry a trooper on his raids. 

The opposition made in the North to this measure 
strengthened the hands of the leaders of tiie rebellion im- 
mensely, and served to prolong the contest. It was confi- 
dently asserted that this oSer of freedom would lead to 
insurrections and massacres, rapine and outrage, on the part 
of the slaves ; all of which was utterly disproved by the 
events that followed. Those who had prophesied tliese 
direful tilings had taken the San Domingo insurrection 
with its untold horrors as a type ; these negroes were 
virtually savages, great numbers of whom were natives of 
Africa itself, stolen thence and consigned to slavery ; having 
Ijeen deprived of the sweets of liberty, tiiey felt more 
keenly the contrast than if they had always been in servi- 
tude. With the slaves of the South it was far different. They, 
indeed, longed for liberty, but they looked fur it throngli the 
intervention of others ; they drew their hojies from the case 
of the Israelites led from Egypt by the hand of Moses ; 
they trusted God would come to their aid in a similiar way^ 
raise up for them a Moses ; and in tiiis trust in Providence 
their faith was marvelous. The gospel of forgiveness had 
been preached to them by preachers both of t)ie white race 
and their own, and tlio truths of the Bible, thus orally pre- 
sented, had a wonderful influence in preparing them for the 
events about to follow. Nor must we think they were 
entirely unaware of the discussions on tlie subject of slavery 
antl their own freedom wliich for so many years had 
agitated the country. The discussions on political subjects 
at their masters' tables were carefully treasured up by the 
reticent slave in waiting, and as carefully j-elated to his 
fellows outside, and they communicated the same from one 
to another in a remai'kable manner. The peo2ile of the 
South owe the deepest gratitude to the slaves for their 
wonderful moderation under the circumstances ; it is the 
highest credit to their humanity and kindly disposition that 
they committed no outrages on the families left under 



BATTLE OF MURFEEESBOKO. 903 

tbeir ijrotection, but with few exceptions labored in good ohap. 

faith for their support. - 

1862. 

When Bragg retreated from Kentucky, be took a long 
detour by way of Cliattanooga to invade Middle Tennessee. 
General Rosecrans gradually moved in the same direction, 
sending forward several divisions of his army to ^Nashville. 
It was ascertained the invaders were concentrating south of Dec. 
that city in the vicinity of Murfreesboro, and that tliey bad ^^• 
taken position on the west side of Stone River, a crooked 
stream whose general course is from the south toward the 
north. General Rosecrans, after many maneuvers to learn 
tlie eaemy's position, made his arrangements to fall upon 
the right of the Confederates witli a force sufficient to crush 
and drive them back upon their center. A citizen of the 
neighborhood was captured and brought to General Mc- 
Cook, wJio commanded the Federal rigbt. The citizen 3^*^' 
said the enemy were massing their men on their left ; it was 
not possible for want of time to verify the statement. 
General McCook, in reply to a question of Rosecrans, 
thought he could hold his position for three hours. In the 
morning these masses of the enemy rushed upon Rosecran.^" 
rigbt — MeCook's position. Bragg bad learned the plan of 
battle designed by the Union commander, or it may have 
been a coincidence. Rosecrans bad advanced to fall upon 
the enemy's right, when he was arrested by the noise of a 
severe fight irpon bis onn riglit ; and soon came a mes- 
senger from McCook, stating that he bad been attacked by 
overpowering forces, was pressed and needed assistance. 
Rosecrans answered: "Tell him to contest evei'y inch of 
ground. If he holds them, we will swing into Murfrees- 
boro with our left and cut them off." Soon, however, it 
was evident to Rosecrans that he must change his original 
plan and hasten to sustain bis own right, which had already 
been driven, though sullenly, some distance. The Confed- 
erates came upon the troops under Sheridan. Here he 
displayed that remarkable promptness and skill which he 



18G3. 



gQj. HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 

<^IAP. r.fterward so often showed. The enemy advanced across 
an open field and in compact mass. Upon them he trained 
three batteries with terrinc effect, yet they closed their 
ranks and pressed on to within fifty yards or so of the 
woods in which tlie Union infantry lay under cover, when 
suddenly the latter rose to their feet and poured in such 
destructive volleys that they broke and fled. General 
Sill charged and drove them across the field and until they 
found shelter in their entrenchments. In this charge the 
gallant Sill lost his life. 

Other divisions moved against Sheridan's position, but 
he undauntedly changed his front and repelled them. In 
an hour's time came another assault, for which he prepared 
by planting his batteries to sweep the advancing columns. 
Twice more he was assaulted, but repelled the enemy with 
great loss. It was now three hours since tlie battle t)egan, 
and Rosecrans came on the field. New dispositions were 
made by both armies, and severe fighting occurred at differ- 
ent points. Finally the Confederates made tlieir last 
assault, to find themselves subjected to so destructive an 
artillery fire that when within three hundred yards they 
broke and hastily retired to their entrenchments. This 
ended the conflict of that day. The armies lay watching 

1863. each other for two days. A sharp skirmish occurred on 
3/ the second, in which the rebels were worsted. The follow- 
ing night Bragg led off his disappointed army toward the 
South. Every attem])t the Confederates had made of an 
aggressive character had totally failed from Antietam to 
Murfreesboro. The influence of this battle was very dis- 
couraging to the leaders of the rebellion, and even more 
to their people. The Union army engaged amounted to 
43,400 and Bragg's about 60,000. The Union loss, killed 
and wounded, 8,778 ; the Confederate loss more than 10,000 
killed and wounded, and 1,700 prisoners. 

General Grant, whose headquarters were at Memphis, 
was directing his efforts to open the Mississippi ; his special 



EXPEDITION UP THE YAZOO. 905 

object for that purpose was the reJuction of Yicksbnrg, c^J. 

the '• Gibraltar of the Confederacy." la the latter part of 

November he set out with an army to take Vicksburg in 

the rear by capturing Jackson — forty-six miles east — the 

capital of tlie State, while Slicrmau was to pass down the 

river from Memphis in transports and steamers convoyed by 

Portei's gunboats, then up tlie Yazoo to a certain point, 

and there land and make a junction with Grant's forces. 

The latter moved by way of Holly Springs, which place the 

enemy evacuated on his approach ; he passed on to find 

them drawn up for battle on the other side of the Talla- 1^62. 

Dec. 
hatchie river. He flanked them and they fell back to 2. 

Abbeville, out of which they were driven ; the column 
moved on to Oxford. There he halted for an accumulation 
of supplies at Holly Springs, but Van Dorn, with his cav- 
alry, surprised the regiment guarding these supplies and- Der. 
most effectually destroyed tliem. The destruction of these " ' 
stores uecessitated Grant to fall back and give up that jDlan 
of attack. 

But Sherman, not aware of this mishap, passed twelve 
miles up tlie Yazoo and found the Confederates in force at 
Hayne's Bluff, a strongly fortified place, and commanding 
the river and any approacli by land. Instead of the cooper- 
ation of Grant, Sherman found tlie enemy's entire force free ^ 

. Dec. 

to oppose him on the Y'azoo. He made a vigorous attack, 29. 

but so amply were they prepared to repel any force 
that he was compelled to withdraw, sustaining a loss of 
nearly 3.000 men ; retiring down to the Mississippi, and 
opposite the mouth of the Yazoo at Young's Point and 
Milliken's Bend, the army was concentrated twelve miles 
above Vicksburg. Grant took his forces from Memphis 
down the river to the same place. 

While waiting for Grant and his forces. General Mc- 
Clernand, who was in temporary command, captured Fort 
Hindmau, at Arkansas Post, fifty miles from the mouth of 
that river. The expedition was well planned ; the trooj^s j^' 
being on board steamers. Porter convoyed them with his 11. 



18C3 



Feb. 



90(5 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, gunboats and rams. The trooiis landed three miles below '• 
the Fort and invested it as soon as possible, while Porter 
passed up to close range ; the conflict was sharp and 
decisive; soon a white flag appeared, the fort was surren- 
dered and with it all the war material and 5,000 prisoners. 
General Grant arrived at Young's Point with iiis forces 
and assumed command, and in due time prosecuted his 
designs against Vickshurg. 

1803. General Banks seat a force from New Orleans to recover 

IQ ' and occupy Baton Kouge. The garrison withdrew up the 

river to Port Hudson, soon to become fortified to such a 

degree as to be second only to Vicksburg. ■ He also sent an 

expedition to occupy Galveston, Texas, under the i^rotectioii 

of the gunboats. The force lauded and took possession. 

18G3. The Confederates made an attack by land and bv water 
Jan 

1. ' witli three powerful rams. The Harriet Lane was cajj- 

tured, her commander, Wainwright, being killed. The 
Wedfield, the flag-ship, was aground and prepared to be 
blown up, but as Commander Renshaw, the last to leave, 
wa,? stepping ofE she prematurely blew up, killing tliat most 
efficient officer. 
100.T Congress assembled, and in his annual message Presi- 

Dec. dent Lincoln proposed compensation for slaves freed under 
certain restrictions ; tliat those who were not disloyal to the 
Government should be thus compensated ; that slaves once 
freed by the contingency of war should never be reduced to 
servitude. This message the Southern leaders either passed 
over in silence or published garbled extracts, accompanied 
with sneers of contempt. The mass of the jieople were not 
permitted to see the whole message. 

On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln, in accordance 
Jan. ^'ith his pledge, unless the insurgents should lay down 
^- their arms, issued liis final decree of Emancipation. From 
its results tliis has become famous as a landmark of human 
progress. He closed by saying : " Upon tliis act, sincerely 
believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Consti- 
tution upon grounds of military necessity, I invite the con- 



AID OF SLAVES — THE FINANCES. 907 

siderate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of *-^j^- 

Alraishtv God." This decree was hailed with enthusiasm 

in the free States by those who desired the rebellion to be 
suppressed uncouditionall}^ but was proclaimed by those 
who wished in some way to stop the rebellion, even by a 
compromise with armed rebels, as unconstitutional, and all 
that. The converse of tliis was, that it was constitutional for 
the Confederates to use their slaves to aid them in resisting 
the Government in its legitimate authority. Now there is 
scarcely an individual, even in the former Slave States, but 
looks upon the abolition of the system as a great blessing to 
the South, as well as to the whole nation. 

No one in passing tlirough the free States at this time, 
and seeing the industrial activity, would have suspected 
that the nation was engaged in civil war, at the cost of 
more than a miilioa of dollars a day, and more tiian five 
hundred thousand men withdrawn from the active duties of 
life. A tariff liigher than usual had been imposed on im- 
ports to meet, to some extent, these extraordinary expenses, 
and the people entered upon manufacturing industries with 
unprecedented zeal, and the busy hum of work was heard 
over the land. These resources were, however, insufficient 
to defray the enormous expenses, and Congress authorized 
the emission of United States notes, known as greenbacks, 
to the amount of $150,000,000, and also bonds to the 
amount of $500,000,000 ; the latter bearing interest at the 
rate of six per cent. These were offered in small sums to 
the people at largo, and tliey came forward with wonderful 
unanimity to aid in the cause by furnishing tlie sinews of 
war. Nothins: was more astonishing than what might be 
called the reserved resources of the free States. 

Taxes — for tlie emergency — were imposed upon incomes 
and manufactures. Thus, what was lost by the falling off 
of import duties was moi-e than gained by domestic taxes. 
And, what was still more beneficial, the people had employ- 
ment in the introduction of new industries, or the more 
extensive prosecution of the old. Taxes were imposed — 



908 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

<1HAP. paid by stamps — on bonds, mortgages, deeds, and nnmor- 

oils cninmercial transactions. These onerous taxes were 

'' repealed or lightened as soon as the Government could 
aiiord it. In some instances, foreign manufacturers found 
it for tlieir pecuniary interest to transfer their machinery 
and works to this country, thus increasing opportunities of 
employment to our own working people. After the sus- 
pension of specie payments the premium on gold rose and 
fell, and thus interfered very much with the regular prices 
of merchandise and of wages. 

It is well to glance at the condition of the Confederacy 
at this time. Their debt was already sis lumdred million 
dollars, this. was the amount of tiieir scrip afloat, which the 
people were compelled to take in exchange for what the 
government wanted. This scrip was only payable on the 
contingency of a separation from and peace witli the United 
States. A very heav^ direct tax was levied upon the 
country, to defray current expenses, and to furnish a 
redemption fund for the scrip to be redeemed at the rate of 
one dollar for three, thus repudiating two-thirds of tlieir 
debt. Of their efforts to obtain a foreign loan every one 
utterly failed ; their cotton and tobacco could not be ex- 
ported because of the blockade, and for the same reason 
English blockade runners could not come in, while so many 
of them had been captured with their valuable cargoes that 
they almost gave up the attempt. 
.Jan. General Burnside at his own request was relieved of his 

26. command of the Array of the Potomac, and General Joseph 
Hooker entered upon bis duties as his successor. This was 
an experiment to find the right man, and as the soldiers 
characterized Hooker as " Fighting Joe," it was hoped he 
would be successful. There was great want of harmony 
among the ofBcers of this unfortunate army — for which the 
soldiers were not to blame — unjust criticism by subordinates 
in respect to superiors, and lack of cheerful and prompt 
obedience to orders. A great many changes of oSicers, and 
also dismissals, were made in order to secure obedience and 



HOOKEE — CHANCELLOKSTILLE. 909 



1862. 



competency. The army was reorganized ; an important c^^^- 
change was made in tlie increase and drilling of the cavalry 
force, which unmbered 13,000 ; and the entire army, when 
ready to take tlie field, 130,000. It was stil! opposite 
Fredericksburg ; and Lee kept guard at the fords of tlie 
Eappahaunock for twenty-five miles, holding a very defens- 
ive position. He had sent Longstreet with 34,000 nun to 
guard the approach to Richmond by the James river, lie 
himself having 47,000 eflfectivo men ; but their defensive 
position made them equal to three times that numbei-. 

Hooker, tiuding the fords in front well guarded, resolved 
to pass up the river twenty-seven miles, and there cross and 
move ra])idly to Ciianccllorsville — eleven miles southwest 
from Fredericksburg — a country inn where four important 
roads meet. The army moved rapidly, and on the second 
day pasged over on potitoon bridges laid for the }>urpose. 

The march to Chancellor's commenced at once ; they came Apr. 

27—29 
to the Eapidan at a place where the water was about four 

feet deep; they did not delay for pontoons, but stripping 

bv divisions plunged in, and, carrying their clotiies and 

arms and rations above tlie water, passed over, and clothing 

themselves in the same order were soon on the move. The 

crossing continued all night long, and in the morning all 

were safely over. The afternoon of tlie same day they 

arrived at Chancellor's. The forces there were surprised 

and driven back toward Lee's main army, and an advanced 

position of great importance was secured by General Sykes' 

regulars, from which he was ordered back — a grievous error, 

as it afterward proved. Thus far all had been successful in 

their movements, and Hooker, over-sanguine, exclaimed : 

"The rebel army belongs to the army of the Potomac!" 

Other divisions were signaled and passed the Rappahannock 

on pontoons with but little opposition and marched toward 

Chancellor's. General Sedgwick had, according to orders, 

crossed below Fredericksburg and made demonstrations on 

the Confederates' extreme right. 

■ Lee, perceiving this latter to be a feint, left 6,000 men 



910 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

c^P- to guard the fortifieations, and hastened with all the force 
he could muster to ChancellorsYillo. On the march he met 



■ "Stonewall " Jackson, who proposed to make a long detour 
and come in on the extreme right of the Union army. 
Early in the morning he set out with 22,000 veterans in a 
direction that induced the Union scouts to think he was 
falling back toward Richmond. Lee, meantime, with only 
13,000 men, kept Hooker's attention by making feints at 
different points during the day, while Jackson was moving 
rapidly round to the rear of the Union army. Tliere is 
certainly no excuse for Hooker and his officers to be thus 
deceived by this usual maneuver of Jackson. At eight 
2 y P.M. the latter fell with unexampled fury upon the Eleventh 
Corps, General Sigel, whicli was completely surprised and 
driven back upon the Twelfth Corps. Darkness came on, 
and the enemy was checked by sc«ne earthworks, hastily 
thrown up, and by the persistent cannonade into the woods 
kept up by the Federals. Jackson wished to make a night 
attack, and gave orders to that effect. Not wishing to trust 
any one, he himself, with a few attendants, went forward 
to reconnoiter, leaving directions to his soldiers not to fire 
unless they saw cavalry approaching from tlie side of the 
Federals. He was returning, when a brigade of liis own 
men fired by mistake, and he fell mortally wounded. A 
few days later he died. General J. E. B. Stuart was ap- 
pointed to the command of his division. 
May Both armies prepared for the struggle of the next day. 

Sedgewick obtained possession of Fredericksburg and 
moved toward Cliancellor's. Hooker's lines were now in a 
position that rendered his superiority of numbers unavail- 
able for a general battle because of dense thickets of scrub- 
oak. Fighting in certain points continued througli the 
day, and Lee himself, taking four brigades from in front of 
Hooker, forced Sedgewick back, though his troops suffered 
much from the Fedei'al artillery. Sedgewick was com- 
pelled to recross the river. For three hours there was no 
responsible head to the army, as Hooker wlien on the 



BLUNDERS — THE WITHDRAWAL. 911 



1803. 



piazza of tlio inn — his lieadquarters — was stunned by a ^^j^- 
piece of falling timber knocked down by a cannon-ball 
from a hostile battery. It is now well known there were a 
number of inexcusable blunders which made this battle 
more a disaster than a defeat*. A council of war was held 
at Hooker's headquarters. Generals Meade, Reynolds, and 
Howard wished to advance and figbt it out; Slocum was 
not present, and Coucb and Sickles thought it prudent to 
withdraw. It was decided by Hooker to withdraw, and Maj' 
during the night, in the midst of rain and darkness, the 
army passed safely to the north liank of the Rappahannock. 
The Union army lost in killed and wounded about 11,000 
and the Confederates about lo,000. The disappointment 
of the loyal people of the country at this disaster was 
exceedingly great. 

Hooker, when about to move, sent a large co-operating 
cavalry force under Stoneman around the enemy's army ta 
destroy railroads and bridges, and to cut lines of communi- 
cation between Lee's position and Richmond. This raid, 
though not fully completing the orders given, did an im- 
mense amount of" harm to railways; and a portion under 
Killpatrick passed entirely around Richmond to Gloucester May 
on the James, and joined the army at Fredericksburg. ^- 



CHAPTER LXIi; 

LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION — CONTINUED. 

L^e's Advance North. — Hooker's Movements. — Confederates Across 
the Pototu:ic. — Gen. Meade in Command. — Battle of Willoughby 
Run.— Death of Reynolds. — Battle of Gettysburg. — Lee's Defeat. — 
Vick<burg. — Ruiming the Gaunilet.— Victories — Vicksburg Cap- 
tured. — Port Hudson Captured. — Griersou's Raid. — Naval Expe'li- 
tioQ.— Opture of the Atlanta. — The Draft and Kiot, — French 
Protestant Address. — Colored Suldici-s. 

CHAP.. The cry "On to the North" was heard on all sides in 

■ Richmond. General Lee coincided in tins view ; his army 

1863 • . 

was out of provisions, and it is said that on one of the 

requisitions to tlie Commissary-general the latter wrote ; 
"If General Lee wants rations, let him go and get them in 
Pennsylvania." Another reason was to compel Hooker to 
■withdraw his arnay to defend "Washington. Childe, in his 
life of Lee, enumerates among the eneoui-agcmcnts, that 
the Emancipation Proclamation " had exa.sperated the 
Democratic party, who complained bitterly that all Consti- 
tutional liberties were disappearing ;" and also great hopes 
were entertained from tlie influence of the " Friends of 
peace." ■ " The victories of Fredericksburg and Chancel- 
lorsville had filled the South with joy and confidence." 
"If Lee's cannon had thundered at the gates of Washing- 
ton or Philadelphia, the 'Peace party' in the North wonld 
have felt sufficiently strong to intervene in an efficacious 
manner, and it would have been impossible for the strife 
to continue."' 

Hooker was vigilant and felt assured that the enemy 
Life of Lee, pp. 320, 227. 



1863. 



lee's advance north — hooker's motements. 913 

were moving toward the Potomac ; this inforraation lie <^h^ p. 
sent to Washington, and asked jjermission to attack their 
rear, but the request was refused. At length Hooker took 
up his line of march toward Washington, and the 50,000 
men under Longstreet in his front hastened to join Lee and 
the advance; their army numbered 70,000 effective men, 
10,000 of whom were cavalry: by far the best of their 
armies in discijilinc. 

Hooker by skillful recounoitering discovered the move- 
ments of Lee's army, and in a cavalry skirmish Pleasanton 
obtained papers at Stuart's quarters which revealed the in- 
tentions of Lee: this information Hooker at once sent to 
Halleck's quarters at Washington. Meanwhile, the Con- "^^^ 
federate advance under Ewell was rapidly and secretly 
moving down the' Shenandoah Valley, marching seventy 
miles in three days. They surprised Gen. Milroy at Win- 
chester and compelled him to retreat ; he finally i-eached 
the Potomac and passed over, losing on the way about 
4,000 prisoners. Milroy would not have been surj)rised if 
Halleck had telegraphed to him the news of the enemy's 
advance, which was known at his headquarters several days 
before. 

The movements of the two armies were nearly the same 
as the autumn before ; Lee, moving down the valley and 
crossing the Potomac, and Hooker, conducting his march 
with great prudence, keeping between him and the Na- 
tional Capital ; they moved in parallel lines, watching 
each other carefully. Bands of Confederate cavalry in 
force had cut the Baltimore and Ohio railway at important 
points, and had passed aci'oss Maryland by way of Hagers- 
town to Chambersburg, Pa., seizing cattle, horses, sheep, Ju"e 
and sending trains of wagons laden with plunder across the 
Potomac. This continued almost unmolested for two weeks. 
The Governors of the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania 
and West Virginia issued proclamations calling for the 
people to turn out and repel the invaders, and so did Presi- 
dent Lincoln. 



914 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAK PEOPLE. 

L^L The advance of Lee's army under General Ewell crossed 

- the Potomac at Williamsport and Shepherdstown, passing 
on to Chambersburg, and thence to York. Two days after- 
ward the divisions of Longstreet and Hill crossed at the 
same places, and finally the whole army was reunited at 
Chambersburg. Hooker crossed the river at Edwards ford 
and moved to Frederick. Hooker now desired to send a 
strong force to unite with the troops at Maryland Heights, 

25^ and take possession of the Potomac ferries in the rear of 
Lee, and thus cut off his communications and seize the 
laden trains continually passing south, but Halleck, the 
General-in-Chief, disapproved of the measure, as he usually 
did of the suggestions of the commanders in the field, who 
. were presumed to know the situation better than any Gen- 
eral in his office at Washington. Hooker, irritated at the re- 
June fus^l' s^"^*" ^^ ^^^ resignation, which was accepted, and Major- 

28. General George G. Meade was appointed to succeed him. 

General Meade did not change the arrangements of his 
predecessor, nor were operations delayed longer than one 
day. The troops on Maryland Heights were directed to 
join the army. In consequence of the interception of a 
letter from Jefferson Davis to Lee it "became known that no 
movement could be made direct on "Washington from Rich- 
mond, and from the defenses of the former troops were 
forwarded to Meade. The Federal army marched up the 
Monocacy Valley toward Gettysburg, Killpatrick's cavalry 

oa^ in the advance. 

Meanwhile Lee had heard of Hooker's judicious plan to 
seize his line of retreat, and he suddenly fell back, as he 
was marching on Harrisburg, to secure a position cast of the 
South Mountain. Up to this time he was not aware that 
the Union army had crossed the Potomac, and was in igno- 
rance of its movements. He at once recalled Ewell from 
York and Carlisle, and ordered Longstreet and Hill to con- 
centrate their divisions at Gettysburg, toward which village 
both armies were approaching, each ignorant of the inten- 
tions of the other. 



29. 



WILLOUGHBT RUN — DEATH OF REYNOLDS. 915 

General Buford, with a division of Federal cavalry, was chap. 

the first to enter the village. He learned of the approach - 

of the Confederates. This information he at once sent to ^^^' 
Meade. General Reynolds, with the First and Eleventh 
Coi-ps, was only four miles distant from the town, and had June 
orders to occupy it the next morning. General Meade's 
headquarters were at Taneytown, thirteen miles distant ; 
and at intervals for about twenty miles several corps of 
Union troops were on their way. General Buford, with his ^ , 
division of cavalry, moving out of town, had taken a de- 1. 
fensive position on Willoughby Eun, a little stream two 
miles northward of the villag(5 and beyond Seminary Hill. 
General Hill learned from scouts that Federal cavalry occu- 
pied the town, and in the morning moved to drive them 
out, when his advance found an unexpected resistance. 
Buford determined at all hazards to hold the position till 
General Reynolds, with his forces, could come to his assist- 
ance, which he did at 10 A. M. Reynolds had no orders to 
bring on a battle, but there was no alternative, and putting 
himself at the head of his division he hastened on, and sent 
back orders for the Third and Eleventh Corps to come for- 
ward with all haste. He took position on Seminary Hill 
in front of the town, lest it should be destroyed by shells. 
The artillery was under General Doubleday. General Rey- 
nolds, when directing the position of the last brigade on the 
right, was killed by a stray bullet — a sad loss to the army 
and the country. General Doubleday then directed the 
.battle, which now began in great earnest. An entire Con- 
federate brigade crossed Willoughby run and drove Buford 
back, but in turn were themselves repulsed and captured, 
with their commander. General Archer. A Mississippi 
brigade was coming in on the right flank and nearly cap- 
tured a battery, when the Federals changed front and at 
once charged bayonets. The Mississippians, thus suddenly 
attacked, were thrown into confusion and sought refuge in 
the cut of an unfinished railway, and were soon forced to 
surrender. 



1863. 



916 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Lee's orders bad been so admirably obeyed that Ewell 
coming from Carlisle on the north, Early from York on the 
east, and Hill from Chambersburg on the west, all reached 
Gettysburg at intervals on the same day, July 1st. 

General Hill, early in the morning, bad put in line of 
battle 14,000 men, besides his advance, Heth's division. 
At noon the Union army had decidedly the advantage. 
Ewell, who heard the roar of battle ten miles distant, hur- 
ried forward, and came upon the field at 1 p.m. He at 
once prepared to assault the Federal left flank, and Hill to 
renew the fight in front. After the fight had commenced, 
suddenly Early appeared on' the other side, and made an 
impetuous charge on tlie Eleventh Corps, which had come 
up an hour or two before. These accessions to the Confed- 
erate army gave it the superiority of numbers, and thus 
pushed on three sides, and thrown into confusion, the 
Union forces — from necessity too much extended — were 
driven back through the village. 

General Howard, when he reached the battle field at 
1 P.M. with his corps, the Eleventh, assumed command. 
In coming up he prudently stationed one of liis divisions in 
reserve on Cemetery Eidge, a commanding position south of 
Gettysburg. This division checked the advance of the 
enemy, and enabled the Federal troops to rally in order to 
receive the attack of the now exultant Confederates. The 
wounded Union soldiers were sent during the day to the 
tillage, and. of course, they fell into the hands of the 
enemy when they obtained possession. Thus ended the 
battle of July 1st. 

General Lee had not yet arrived, but sent orders to Hill 
to pursue to the utmost. Early wished to assault the 
heights immediately; but Ewell and Hill, seeing the posi- 
tion strong and the Union soldiers prepared, tbouglit it 
more prudent to await the morning, when their other forces 
could come up. When Lee arrived he found that Hill had 
recalled the troops. 

News of the death of Ecynolds had been sent to Meade, 



GETTYSBURG. 917 

wbo directed Hancock to take command ; he aiTived near chap. 

tlie close of the battle, and did much to restore order and ^ 

place the troops in a position almost impregnable. As the ^^^^' 
Union troops came up during the night they were arranged 
along Cemetery Eidge, directly soutli of the village, the 
south end of which was terminated by two knobs known as 
little Round Top and Round Top. Both of these were 
occupied in force. In front of the former was extended 
the Third Corps, under General Daniel Sickles, 1,100 yards 
in advance on a slight elevation — a mistake which Meade 
discovered too late to remedy before the enemy, seeing their 
advantage, made the assault. 

On the otiier hand, Lee, who thought to choose his own 
ground, had to arrange his men to meet the dispositions of 
his adversary. More than half the day passed without 
demonstrations except an artillery duel ; Meade was waiting 
for the enemy to begin tlie conflict. About 4 p.m., without 2. 
sending forward skirmishers, lest they should give notice of 
his coming, Longstreet with his entire force made a tre- 
mendous assault on the advanced position of Sickles, 
extending his lines to overlap) tlie latter, and by a rush 
forv^'a^d seize Little Round Top, the key to the whole posi- 
tion. Just at that moment Sykes's Corps, which had been 
held in reserve, were moving by order of Meade to occupy 
the same key. They had scarcely reached their line on the 
top when the Confederates, having passed round Sickles's 
left, came rushing up the slope to find themselves con- 
fronted with the most determined courage.. Hero occurred 
a most desperate hand to hand struggle. It resulted in the 
repulse of the assailants. 

Longstreet's attack on Sickles's corps was more success- 
ful ; the soldiers fought well, but their faulty position gave 
the advantage to their adversaries. Sickles was severely 
wounded and earned from the field, General Birney taking 
the command. 

A gap of nearly half a mile north of Round Top was 
made in the Union lines by the sending of reinforcements. 



918 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAJf PEOPLE. 

CHAP. The Confederates made an effort to secure this opening, 



1863. 



but were beaten off by the Federals sent to occupy tlie same 
place, and who reached it first. . Then the Confederates 
made a long detonr and came out in the rear of Round 
Top, with the hope of suddenly securing that important 
point, but to their dismay they saw its crest crowned 
with soldiers and cannons. The Fifth and Sixth Corps, 
fresh troops, had a few minutes before occupied the top. 
The latter just arrived, having marched thirty-six miles at 
a quick step. To attack such a position was madness, and 
the enemy fell back disappointed, and bivouaced in a 
neighboring wheat field. 

Opposite the Union right was stationed Ewell, who only 
made demonstrations, which Meade soon detected ; but 
about six p.m. he made a real assault against a portion of 
Cemetery Ridge, and captured and held a breastwork par- 
tially manned, most of the troops having been withdrawn. 
Three of Early's brigades attacked another portion of 
the same, and succeeded in driving back the unfortunate 
Eleventh Corps, though the artillery made sad havoc in 
their approaching lines. Their triumph was short, for the 
Second Corps fell upon them witb determined vigor, and 
drove them off faster than they had the Eleventh. 

The Confederates attributed the failure of the day to 
the want of united action on the part of their officers in 
command. Darkness ended the afternoon's work ; the 
Confederates confessing they bad "obtained no serious 
advantage." This ended the battle of July 2d. 

Lee made no change in his general plan, but hoped on 
the morrow to have perfect concert of action among his 
own troops. During the mght General Picket brought him 
July his division — 4,000 fresh soldiers, yet he was doomed to see 
his plans frustrated. General Slocum before dawn attacked 
the Confederates in the breastwork, though they harl been 
reinforced by three brigades, and, after a severe contest of 
some hours, drove them out with great loss. Finding it 
impossible to regain the position lost, Lee changed his plan, 



THE LAST ASSAULT. 919 

and determined to assail the Federal center on Cemetery chap. 
Kidge, and by two p.m. his arrangements were completed, -j— " 
In front of Longstreet's and Hill's troops he placed 115 
guns on Seminary Hill, hoping to disable the opposite 
Federal guns and then carry Cemetery Kidge by assault. 
General Meade penetrated the design, and made counter 
preparations by placing only 80 guns in position for want 
of room, as he had 120 more on hand to replace those dis- 
abled. Then followed a most terrible combat of field 
artillery. The Confederate guns accomplished but little, 
though they kept up an unceasing fire of two hours, as the 
Union troops were under excellent cover. General Hunt, 
Chief of Artillery, purposely slackened his fire in order to 
save ammunition, but Lee thought it was because of the 
great number of disabled guns in tlie Federal lines, and he 
made preparation to carry the Eidge by assault. About 
four P.M. from the west of Seminary Hill appeared the 
lines of the Confederates moving to the attack, with a 
steadiness most remarkable. In the center was Picket's 
division, the finest trooj^s of the Confederate army, sup- 
ported right and left by the fine divisions of Pettigrew and 
Wilcox. The assailing column altogether numbered 13,000 
bayonets. They had 1,300 yards of plain and rolling land 
to pass over to reach the Federal lines, all the way under 
the fire of batteries on Cemetery Ridge. As they advanced 
the supports right and left began to waver, the left falling 
back, and the right, not keeping up, finally melted away. 
Still the Picket column moved on, closing up their ranks as 
the men fell, "its flanks exposed to an oblique fire from 
right and left, and the head of the column torn by bomb- 
shells and grape shot ; but nothing could arrest it." ' The 
incessant fire caused it to swerve to the left instead of direct 
upon the point intended ; presently they came within mus- 
ket range, the Federals reserving their fire for more deadly 
effect. The column pressed on without taking time to re- 
tura the fire, which had been delivered upon their left; 
I Life of Lee, p. 248. 



920 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CH^^P- when they came within two hundred yards, they were re- 
— — - ceived by a severe fire from two divisions, this they return- 
■ ed, and then rushed on, but soon a portion of the column 
broke in disorder ; fifteen of its colors were captured and 
nearly 2,000 prisoners ; another portion swerved to their 
right and took possession of a stone wall a little way in ad- 
vance of the main breastworks ; this wall had been hastily 
constructed and used temporarily ; on this they placed the 
blue flag of Virginia — for Picket's 4,000 were Virginians, 
and brave fellows too — a small success very dearly bought. 
They became a center of fire — front, right and left — in a few 
minutes; they threw down their arms, and fell upon the 
earth to escape the leaden hail ; twelve stand of colors and 
about 2,500 prisoners were taken. 

This virtually ended the battle of Gettysburg, when the 
Rebellion received a blow from which it never recovered. 
" The Confederate soldiers returned in a mob, pursued by 
the growling of hostile cannon, which swept all the valley 
and the slopes of Seminary Hill with balls and shells." 
Lee exclaimed to an English oflBcer who was present : 
" This has been a sad day for us, Colonel, — a sad day — but 
we can't always expect to gain victories."' 
J^'y Both armies remained in their respective positions ; 

Meade was prudent and Lee seemed satisfied with his last 
rash attempt, so disastrous and so wanton in the destruc- 
tion of the lives of his soldiers. He at once began to send 
off his trains to the crossings of the Potomac, and on the 
same night, in the midst of rain and storm, the Confeder- 
ates began to retreat, leaving their dead on the field and 
their wounded uncared for ; Ewell's division remaining to 
keep up appearances until nearly noon on the 5th. 
-. , A laborious march brouglit Lee's whole army to Hagers- 

14. town on tlie 7tli ; finally he crossed the river, which had 
been swollen by rains, thus delaying the passage for several 
days. Meade was cautious to excess, and unwilling to run 
risks the end would not justify ; he was much censured for 
1 liife of Lee, p. 249. 



VICESBtJRG — RUNNING THE GAUNTLET. 921 

allowing the Confederate army to escape so easily, yet in ci^P- 

the pursuit he captured great numbers of prisoners ; many 

of whom were wounded and cruelly left by the roadside to 
lighten the trains. Lee fell back and finally took position 
on the south side of the Eapidau, and Meade in his old ^^S- 
quarters on the north side of the Rappahannock. In this 
battle the Union army lost in killed 3.864, in wounded 
13,790 ; the Federals buried 4,500 of the enemy's dead, 
and 26,500 wounded fell into their hands, and 13,621 other 
prisoners. 

Gen. Grant, finding it impossible to take Vicksburg 
from his present position, determined to pass a portion of 
his army on the west side of the river from Milliken's Bend 
to a point below, and then by running the gauntlet of the 
Vicksburg batteries obtain gunboats and transports to ferry 
over his troops to the east side of the river. 

A portion of the army commenced the laborious march, jj^ 
most of the way over an inundated and spongy soil; the 29. 
soldiers oftentimes halting to construct corduroy roads. 

Meantime Admiral Porter ran juist the Vicksburg bat- 
teries with gunboata and a number of transports, which 
were all protected from sliot by cotton and hay in bales. 
These transports were manned by volunteers. Said Gen. 
Grant in one of his reports : " It is a striking feature of the 
volunteer array of the United States that there is nothing 
which men are called upon to do, mechanical or profession- 
al, that accomplished adepts cannot be found for the duty 
required, in almost every regiment." 

The gunboats and transports passed down, the former 
bombarding Grand Gulf, but without much success, and at 
Bmensburg they met the army, which was at once ferried 
over, and General McClcrnand's corps marched out toward 
Port Gibson to occupy certain hills. He was successful in Apr 
driving the enemy toward Grand Gulf, which place General ^''• 
Pemberton ordered to be evacuated and the troops to join j^^y 
him at Vicksburg ; and he urgently cried to General Joe ^• 
Johnston, who had chief command of the Confederate 



1863. 



922 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, forces in that section, for reinforcements. The latter re- 
plied : " If Grant crosses, unite all your troops and beat 
him back ; success will give back what was abandoned to 
win it." 

Grant waited five days for supplies and for Sherman, 
who had made a demonstration up the Yazoo, to join him ; 
then began a series of rapid movements and victories by the 
May Unioa troops. He first moved toward Jackson, the State 
capital, throwing out parallel divisions, bewildering Pem- 
berton as to his real object. The soldiers had rations for 
five days, sufficient for this short and decisive campaign. 
As the army advanced they came in contact with the enemy 
from time to time. They found them strongly posted in 
May the woods near the village of Raymond. After a contest 
12- of three hours the Confederates were driven from their po- 
sition, they taking the direction of Jackson. Great numbers 
threw down their arms and deserted. The next day Gen- 
eral McPherson's corps occupied Clinton, and obtained 
some important dispatches at the telegraph office ; mean- 
while Johnston had arrived at Jackson and taken corn- 
May mand. Sherman and McPherson, despite the miry roads, 
were moving on, and three miles from Jackson met John- 
ston's army, about 11,000 strong. McPherson engaged the 
main body, and Sherman passed round, flanking the enemy 
and driving the riflemen from their pits. The Confederates 
soon left the field, having lost 350 prisoners and eighteen 
guns. Grant left Sherman at Jackson to destroy the war 
material and railways, but to protect private property, while 
he himself hastened to attack Pemberton, who was said to 
be in a strong position at Champion Hill with 25,000 men. 
General Grant was on the ground, but wished to delay the 
battle till the Thirteenth Corps (McClernand's) could come 
np, but ere he arrived the Confederates began the battle, at 
May 11 A.M.; and after a short and decisive struggle they were 
driven from the field, with great loss in killed and wounded. 
They fell back to Black River railroad bridge, where they 
made a stand ; but their soldiers were sadly demoralized, 



ASSAULT — VICKSBtJKG — PORT HUDSOT. 923 

and when a Union brigade charged their right in order to caAP. 



1863. 



obtain a better position, they fled in disorder. "All is 
lost!" re-echoed from the ranks, and the panic-stricken 
soldiers crowded into Vicksburg, at ten o'clock at night, as 
into a trap. 

Yicksburg was invested the next day. Grant at first 
ordered an assault, hoping that in the demoralized condi- 
tion of the enemy he might cany the place ; but it was too 
carefuUy fortified to be thus taken, and he was forced to 
begin a regular siege. Tlien followed a series of expedi- 
ents, such as mines, one of which when exploded blew a 
fort one hundi'ed feet into the air. The garrison was nearly 23. 
exhausted, and famine was pressing on when, on July 3d, 
at 8 A.M., a flag of truce came out from the besieged lines 
bearing a communication for General Grant, which con- 
tained proposals for surrender. The terms were arranged 
and the Confederates laid down their arms and were paroled ^^^ 
— about 34,000 in number. 

Port Hudson, twenty-two miles above Baton Eouge, had 
been invested by General Banks. The attention of the 
garrison was attracted by echoes of great shoutings in the 
Federal lines. It was soon ascertained that the cause of 
the uproar was tlie announcement of the capitulation of 
Vicksburg. General Gardner immediately surrendered 9^ 
Port Hudson with its garrison of more than 6,000 men 
with all their war material. The Mississippi was now open 
its entire length. The Confederacy had lost from July 1st 
to 9tb 80,000 men and an immense amount of war material. 
General Banks's army consisted partly of troops of African 
descent. Many ol these were from the Northern States, 
some were freedmeu emancipated by the President's procla- 
mation. To their honor be it said they were not guilty of 
outrages on their recent masters. They made eflSeient 
soldiers ; more than 50,000 during 1863 enlisted in the 
Union armies, and about 100,000 the following year. 

Quite a number of minor expeditions were made during 
the siege of these two important places; the first of these 



1863. 



924 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

<^^P- was marked by boldness and success. Colonel B. H. 

Grierson made a cavalry raid from La Grange, Tenn., with 

1,700 men, sweeping through the center of Mississippi, 

Apr. destroying $4,000,000 wortli of contraband property, and 

coming round in safety to Baton Rouge. 

The Confederate General John H. Morgan made a raid 
into Kentucky, and after some successes and repulses 
crossed the Ohio at Bradensburg into the State of Indiana. 
The people turned out promptly and met him at every 
July point, though he had an effective force of 3,800 men. He 
^- was chased so hard that near New Lisbon, Ohio, he himself 
was glad to surrender. Only 500 of his men escaped. The 
gunboats in the river had prevented his recrossing. He 
did much damage to the railroads, but so imperfectly that 
they were soon repaired. 

A naval expedition under Admiral Dupont was fitted 
out against the forts in Charleston harbor. Nine iron-clads 
on a clear, bright morning, when' there was just suiBcient 

Apr. wind to blow away the smoke of battle, steamed up toward 
, '^- Charleston. Not a gun was fired until they had reached a 
position on which were trained the guns of Forts Sumter 
and Moultrie and several other batteries. After a most 
gallant bombardment the iron-clads were withdrawn, as it 
was discovered that without a cooperative land force the 
forts could not be taken. . One of the iron-clads was so 
damaged she was blown up. General Hunter, in command 
of the department, was succeeded by General Q. A. Gil- 

, , more, and Admiral Dalgren superseded Dupont. Gilmore 
e. now began regular siege operations ; and at length by a 
continuous bombardment of siege-guns and iron-clads Sum- 
ter was crumbled to pieces. Gilmore occupied a point four 

Aug. miles distant, and from there he threw shells into Charlcs- 

*^ ton itself, which was soon abandoned by most of the 
inhabitants. 

An English blockade-runner — the Fingal — came into 
Savannah in November, 1861, but was unable to return 



THE DRAFT AND KIOT. 925 

with a cargo of cotton, because of the fleet investing the 9^?- 



1863. 



harbor. The Confederate authorities fitted her out as an 
iron-clad, somewhat after the manner of the famous Merri- 
rnac, and called her the Atlanta. Her prowess excited 
great expectations, and it was proclaimed by her ofiBcers 
that no iron-clad in the Federal navy could withstand her 
attaclvs. Admiral Dupont, bearing of tliis iron-clad rara, 
sent the monitors Weehawlccn and Nahant, under Captain 
Rodgers, to Warsaw Sound to watch for her, as it was 
ascertained tliat in a few days she was coming out to spread 
havoc along the coast. Eodgers arrived, and sent a little 
steamer up the Savannah as a scout. Early one morning 17. 
the scout announced that the Atlanta was coming down 
the river ; all hands on the monitors were piped to quarters. 
Rodgers steamed down the river to decoy the Atlanta into 
deep water, where he could more easily maneuver the Wee- 
haivken. The ram hastened to pursue, thinking the mon- 
itor was trying to escape ; when she came within easy 
range Captain Rodgers slackened his speed, and he himself 
sighted one of the Weehawhen's 15-inch guns, and the shot 
smashed the Atlanta's pilot-house to flinders, wounding 
both the pilots ; another 15-inch shot struck her half way 
from her gunwale, crushing her iron and wood work, and 
making a large hole, killing one man and wounding twelve. 
Four out of five of the Wcehawlcen's shots too.k effect ; the 
Atlanta failed to injure her antagonist, and after a contest 
of fifteen minutes she hauled down her flag. The disap- 
pointment was great to the gentlemen and ladies who had 
been induced to accompany the Atlanta in other boats, 
with the expectation of seeing her capture the monitors. 

Congress found it necessary to pass a law authorizing jj^p 
the President to recruit the army by a draft from able- 3. 
bodied citizens between the ages of 20 and 45. This he 
ordered for 300,000 men. In consequence of this order a 
riot, the most terrible in our history, began in the city of 
New York, and lasted for three days, but was finally put "l^'^ 
down by the police, with the aid of armed citizens and 



1863. 



926 HISTORY OF THE AJIEEICAIf PEOPLE. 

CHAP, soldiers from tlie forts in the harbor, but after, it is esti- 
■ mated, about two hundred persons were killed, mostly 
rioters. The latter began by burning the houses where the 
provost marshals had their olfices, the fire often extending 
much fartlier. The spirit which animated a certain class 
of the rioters manifested itself in the burning of the Half 
Orphan Asylum for colored children, and other fiendish 
outrages were perpetrated upon the colored population. 
Afterward great numbers of the rioters were arrested, tried 
and sentenced to years of imprisonment. The riot would 
have been subdued sooner, had not the National Guard — 
city militia — been absent at the call of the President to aid 
in repelling Lee and his army from Pennsylvania. , 

The dejiression and disquietude in the Confederacy were 
very great after the reverses from July 1st to 9th. Jeffer- 
son Davis issued a proclamation ordering into the field all 
white men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. 
These were to serve three years, and if they refused to report 
themselves they were to be treated as deserters from the 
Confederate army, that is, to suffer the penalty of being 
shot, according to military law. The Confederate financial 
prospects were becoming worse and worse, and these reverses 
bad crushed every hope of recognition by foreign powers, 
and even the expectation of mediation faded away. 

The laboring classes of England, as far as they under- 
stood the matter, sympathized witli the free States in their 
struggle with the slave States. The intelligent portion of 
the French people were still more pronounced. The Prot- 
estant pastors of France in an address (dated Paris, March 
12th, 1863,) to their Protestant brethren in England, 
because of their want of sympathy with the free States in 
their struggle, use the following language : " No more 
revolting spectacle has ever been before the civilized world 
than a Confederacy, consisting rnainly of Protestants, form- 
ing itself and demanding independence, in the nineteenth 
century of the Christian era, with a professed design of 
maintaining and propagating slavery. The triumph of 



FRENCH ADDEESS. 927 



such a cause would put back the progress of Christian civ- 
ilization and of humanity a whole century." 

The Confederate authorities were greatly exasperated 
because colored men were allowed to enlist in the United 
States army. The Confederates were in the habit of giving 
no quarter to these soldiers, and the atrocities practiced 
upon those of them who happened to be captured in battle 
roused President Lincoln to issue a proclamation announc- 
ing that for every captured colored soldier sold into 
slavery there should be put one Confederate prisoner of 
war to labor on the public works, there to remain until the 
colored soldier was free and treated as a prisoner of war. 
This proclamation ended that species of outrage. 



CHAP. 

Lxn. 

1863. 



CHAPTER LXIII. 

Lincoln's administration — continued. 

The March to Chattanooga.— The Battle — Chickamauga. — Burnside ; 
Knoxville — Consolidated Armies, — Battle above the Clouds. — 
Bragg's Defeat.— A Stringent Order. — Marauders in Missouri. — 

' Massacre at Lawrence. — Red River Expedition. — Massacre at 
Fort Pillow.— Grant ; Lieutenant-General. — Position of Affairs.— 
Sherman flanks Johnston; he falls back.- Death of Bishop Polk. — 

■ Kenesaw Mountain. — Across ttie Chattahoochee — Hood in Com- 
mand.— Death of McPherson.— Battles.— Atlanta Captured.— 
March to the Sea.— The Christmas Gift. 

Lxm.' ^ROM the battle of Murfreesboro, at the first of the year, 
till Juue 25th, Rosecrans remained in his camp recruiting, 
especially his cavalry. Meanwhile, General Bragg retired 
to the south bank of Duck river — a deep, narrow stream — 
whose fords he fortified with the greatest care, and waited 
for Rosecrans to come and attack him in his well-chosen 
position. Tbe latter advanced not in the way marked out 
by his adversary, but by a series of skillfully devised flank- 
ing movements compelled Bragg to abandon all his well-laid 
plans, and to escape being taken at great disadvantage in 
the rear. He fell back into Alabama and continued his 
retreat across the" Cumberland Mountains to Chattanooga, 
there he made a stand, having been largely reinforced from 
Lee's army by Longstreet's division and from Johnston's 
Mississippi force, and paroled jirisoners from Vick.sburg 
who had not been exchanged. He fortified that famous 
railroad center, and at various points on the Tennessee 
river threw up defensive works. Roisecrans was much 
retarded in his pursuit by the excessive rains, the swollen 



CHATTANOOGA — THE BATTLE. 929 

streams and the want of bridges, which had teen carefully chap . 

destroyed by the retiring enemy. Chattanooga is on the 

Tennessee river at the mouth of a valley formed by a creek 
of the same name, between Lookout Mountain and Mission- 
ary Ridge. Lookout Mountain rises 2,400 feet above the 
sea; tlie base is wooded, but the sides, for the most part, 
are of abrupt rocks, which in places are perpendicular. 

On Rosecrans's approach Bragg evacuated Chattanooga, 
which the former occujjied, himself, and also a portion of -^"S- 
Lookout Mountain by Crittenden's division, and the valley 
of the Chickamauga by General Thomas's corps. Bragg 
advanced his forces over Chickamauga Creek to get between 
Chattanooga and Eosecrans's main army. This movement 
brought on an engagement. About 11 a.m. the Confed- 
erates attacked the Union left flank with their whole 
strength, and forced it back after an obstinate resistance. 
The Federals being reinforced in turn took the offensive, 19. " 
and by 4 p.m. recovered nearly all the ground lost. The 
Confederates left their dead on the field and all their badly 
wounded. Meanwhile, Generals Bishop Polk and Hill 
assaulted the Union center, which wavered for a short time 
but recovered and held the enemy in check ; tlien the 
assault was made again with a stronger force, and the 
center was compelled to give way. Sheridan's division came 
up, and presently others, and after a spirited charge at sun- 
set regained the entire ground. After dark the enemy 
made a desperate attempt on the center, but were received 
so vigorously that they abandoned tlieir position. Tliis 
ended the first day's battle. 

The Confederates renewed the conflict the next day by Sept. 
again attacking the Union left. The Federals held their ^'^■ 
ground for a time, and then fell back in order, and being 
reinforced, checked the enemy. Two hours after they 
threw a tremendous force upon the Union center, where 
General Thomas commanded. During the night his men 
extemporized a barrier of logs and fence rails, from behind 
which their musketry told severely on the enemy, while tlie 



930 HISTORY OF THE AilEEICAX PEOPLE. 

CHAP, artillery on rising ground in the rear made havoc in their 
; ranks. The Confederates came on with frantic yells. 

Aug.' Tl'^'y often staggered under the well-directed fire, but would 
11- rally again under the urgency of their officers. Tlie Union 
center had been weakened by almost one-third ; the disor- 
dered portions fell back toward Chattanooga, and Rosecrans 
was carried along with the crowd. Thomas then moved to 
a position on the slopes of Mission Ridge, and there massed 
what artillery he had, which played most effectively on the 
enemy. They were urged against the position of Thomas 
by Longstreet and Bishop Polk with a disregard of human 
life scarcely known. As they came up they were slaugh- 
tered at a terrible rate by well-directed discharges of mus- 
ketry and artillery. Tlien they made a flank movement, 
and were attacked by Union cavalry and severely repulsed. 
At 4 P.M. Thomas retired in order to Chattanooga. The 
losses of the Confederates were enormous, as they were so 
much exposed in their assaults. Bragg admitted a loss of 
18,000 — now known to be much below the actual number. 
The Union loss was 1,644 killed and 9,263 wounded. 

The " Army of the Cumberland" was in straits for pro- 
visions at Chattanooga, as the numerous cavalry of the 
enemy were continually breaking their long line of commu- 
nications. The Government detached two corps from the 
Army of the Potomac and sent them under Hooker. They 
went by rail, and arrived at Chattanooga in an almost 
incredibly short time. By the same authority. General 
Grant sent Sherman with a large portion of the army that 
had captured Vicksburg. Rosecrans, meantime, had been 
relieved, and General Thomas appointed to succeed him. 

- General Burnside, who was in command of the Depart- 

1. ment of the Ohio, moved through Eastern Kentucky and 
reached Knoxville, Tenn., where he was hailed with rejoic- 
ings by tiic inhabitants. He took possession of the famous 
Cumberland Gap, cutting the communication between Rich- 
mond and Middle Tennessee. After the battle of Chicka- 
mauga, Bragg, at the suggestion of Jefferson Davis, who 



CONSOLIDATED ARMIES. 981 

was visiting his army, seut Longstrcet to drive Bnmside out ^f^- 

of Knoxville. The former made an assault, but was so 

severely repulsed that he wa« under the necessity of besieg- s,.p,' 
ing the town, which he did till he was compelled to raise ^■ 
the siege on the approach of Sherman and retreat into West jj^g 
Virginia, and thence joined Lee's army on the Eapidan. 3. 

The authorities at Washington consolidated the Western 
armies — the Cumberland, the Tennessee, the Ohio — and 
appointed General Grant to the command. He assumed oci. 
oiEce and appointed General Thomas to the tirst named ; 18. 
General Sherman to the second, and General Burnside to 
the third. On the day thai Grant himself arrived at Chat- 
tanooga, Hooker suj-prised and drove the Confederates out 
of Lookout Valley ; they moving round the mountain to 
Mission Kidge. Sherman's troops from Vicksburg arrived, '^^g- 
but so secretly that Bragg was entirely ignorant of their 
presence. Grant at once availed himself of the mistake of 
sending Longstreet to Knoxville, and began to make demon- 
strations on Bragg's left to divert his attention ; sending a 
large force with much ostentation ; and taking position on 
high ground in siglit of the enemy, but as soon as it was 
dark the force countermarched and reached the main army 
iu the morning. He also sent General Thomas, who sur- 
prised the enemy and drove them before him, obtaining an 33 
important position, which he secured by fortifying. Mean- 
while, to conceal Sherman's march round to Bragg's right, he 
directed Hooker to make an attempt on Lookout mountain ; 
he moved at once and soon bis men were picking their way 
up. A fog had rested upon the mountain during the 
morning, which concealed the movement from the Confede- 
rates, and they only learned of it as their rifle-pits one by 
one were taken ; at 12 o'clock Geary's battalion rounded the 
peak of the mountain still enveloped in clouds. The Fede- 
ral soldiers had been ordered to maintain their place if they 
should gain the top, but their appearance was so sudden 
and unexpected by the enemy that they toolc to flight, and 
Geary's soldiers forgot their orders and rushed on in pur- 



1863. 



932 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, suit ; other brigades were coming up, and after two or three 
sharp conflicts the plateau was cleared, and the Confede- 
rates aided iu their descent ove»the I'ocks to the valley below. 
About 2 P.M., the clouds rolled down oS the mountain and 
revealed the stars and stripes planted pn the summit ; such 
was the battle above the clouds. We may imagine the 
cheers that went up from tlie Union army below iu Chatta- 
nooga. Sherman had now come within striking distance 

Nov. and was waiting for the time appointed — daylight — when 
the whole Union line was to advance. From a cone-siiaped 
hill called Bald Knob, could be had a view of the entire 
battle-field; on the top of this hill. Grant, with some of- 
ficers, took his stand. 

Sherman commenced the attack on the Confederate 

• right about 10 a.m., and in an hour's time it became 

general along the lines. The contest was carefully watched 

■j^^^ from Bald Knob ; it was seen that Bragg was weakening his 
35. centre by sending troops to his right ; the crisis had come. 
Grant signalled the command and three or four brigades 
dashed down the slope and across the valley and straight 
for the centre of the Confederate army, literally running 
over the rifle-pits in their front, burst out of the woods like 
an overwhelming torrent carrying all before them ; the 
jjanic stricken enemy fled in every direction. Just at sun- 
set the Ridge was in Union hands and the Confederates 
were disastrously defeated. Pollard says: "A disgi-acefnl 
panic ensued ; tlie whole left wing of the Confederates be- 
came involved, gave way and scattered in unmitigated rout." 
It was a most striking scene to behold the flaunting signal 

' flags on the tops of these mountains, telegraphing to one 

another, and to hear the cheers that rose along the lines for 
six miles. 

General Grant the same evening telegraphed to Wash- 
ington : ''I believe I am not premature in announcing a 
complete victory over Bragg ; Lookout Mountain top, all 
the rifle-pits in" Chattanooga valley, and Missionary Ridge 
are held by us." The pursuit was commenced the next 



A STRINGENT ORDER — ARKANSAS. 933 



1863. 



morning, but was soon discontinued, and Sherman was at 9¥^- 
once sent to relieve Burnside at Knoxville. 

The authorities at Eichmoud censured Bragg for his 
misfortune, alleging that his positions wei'e so impregnable 
tliat lie should not have been defeated, and General Joe 
Johnston was sent to supersede him in command. 

General Grant issued a very stringent order to restrain 
the soldiers from marauding upon the inhabitants, and 
appropriating private property. Any soldier found guilty 
of such conduct was to be summarily punished. Every 
effort, consistent with military necessity, was made to pro- 
tect the poor people of the Confederacy, and these orders July 
were enforced, as far as possible, by the Union officers. 

General Fred. Steele was sent from Vicksburg to occupy 
Little Kock, the capital of Arkansas, in order to revive the 
loyal element in the State, and re-establish the legitimate 
authority. General Steele rejiaired to Helena and assumed 
command, then to Clarendon, on the White river, and then Aug. 
across the country, driving the Confederates before him, 
who. finally made a stand three miles below Little Rock, 
but were quickly defeated, and pursued so vigorously they 
were unable to set fire to the town. Except an iron-clad 
ram on the stocks, property, both public and private, was lo. ' 
held sacred. A provisional government- was established ; 
General Steele remaining some months. The Confederate 
power in the State was effectually broken, and only squads 
of guerrillas prowled about the country, robbing the houses, 
granaries and cellars of their own people. 

In Missouri hordes of these men swarmed over the 
country pillaging the people, disloyal or loyal. Under an 
outlaw named Quantrell, a band of these marauders dashed . 
into Lawrence, Kansas, at half-past four in the morning, 
and in cold blood nmrdered every man they could find. ^ 
'• Eighty-five widows and two hundred orphans were made 17. 
that morning." The town was plundered and ladies robbed 
of their jewelry. 

E.'cpeditions of Federal troops occupied Corpus Christi 



93-i HISTOKT OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, on the coast, and Brownsville on the Rio Grande in Texas ; 



an expedition was sent up the Red river against Shreves- 
Jan. port, an important point. 

After much preparation General Banks was ready to 
move. Admiral Porter, with fifteen gunboats, passed up 
Red river, freeing it of obstructions and its banks from the 
presence of the enemy. The gunboats reached Alexandria 
and Union troops occupied the town. The Confederates, 
scattering over tlie country, burned all the cotton they 
could find, and the houses in which it was stored. The 
army from necessity left the river ; the advance carelessly 
fell into an ambuscade, was forced to fall back, and finally 
abandoning the train reached the main army. The next 
day the Confederates, much elated, attacked the Federals 
but were severely repulsed. It was thought best to give up 
the enterprise since the river was falling fast and the gun- 
boats would be useless. When the fleet reached tlie rapids 
near Alexandria it was found it could not pass down. Tliis 
was obviated by the genius of Colonel Bailey, of Wisconsin, 
who constructed a dam across the river, thus raising the 
water, and at a signal the dam was loosened and the -boats 
passed safely down on the flood. Thus ended the fruitless 
expedition. 

General Forrest, a guerrilla cliief, carried on an irregular 
warfare in Western Kentucky and Tennessee, always treat- 
ing the Union inhabitants with great cruelty. He captured 
Union City and its garrison of 450 men ; he also made an 

Mar. attack on Paducah but was repulsed. The same Forrest and 
24 

his band carried Fort Pillow by assault; after the fort 

surrendered, the garrison to the number of 300 were 

slaughtered in cold blood, because a portion were colored 

f^' men. Forrest, from his statement of the case, seems to have 

been at least not altogether responsible for the outrage. 

The successes of General Grant attracted the attention 
both of the nation and of Congress, which body revived the 
grade of Lieutenant-Gcneral, extinct since the retirement of 



GRANT LIEUTENANT-GENEKAL — SHEEMAN MOVES. 935 

General Scott. This was eonferred on General Grant ; who chap. 

at once turned over the army at Chattanooga to General W. 

T. Slierman, and repaired to Washington, whither lie had -^^^^ 
been summoned by telegraph. He was less known personally 3. 
than any of the department generals ; a man of deeds and 
few words-; while a strong vein of common sense in his 
character gave an earnest he would be equal to emergen- 
cies likely to arise. 

At the White House the President, in the presence 
of his Caiiiuet and General Halleck, ja-esentcd him his com- 
mission of Lieutenant-General, saying a few words of kind- g"^" 
ness and expressing his own confidence, then adding: "As 
the country here trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain 
you." Grant, after paying a compliment "to the noble 
Union armies," ended by saying : "I feel the full weight 
of the responsibilities devolving upon me, and I know if 
they are met it will be due to those armies, and, above all, to 
the favor of that Providence which leads both nations and 
men." 

He entered immediately upon his duties, visiting the Mar. 
headquarters of General Meade to confer witli him, and the 
next day left for the West and by appointment met Shei-- 
man at Nashville to consult with bim. Grant believed 
there could be no substantial peace until the fnilitary power 
of the Confederacy was nttei-ly crushed, and to that pur- 
pose he devoted all his energies. As a summary of the 
position of affairs at this time it may be stated : There 
were two main armies of the Confederacy — one under Lee 
defending Eichmond, the other under Johnston guarding 
the approaches to Atlanta, the great strategic jjoint and 
railroad center of Northwest Georgia ; the Mississippi river 
was patroled by Union gunboats from St. Lonis to its 
mouth ; the line of the Arkansas was held, and all west of 
the Mississippi north of that stream ; in Southern Louisiana 
a few points not far from the river were held by the Fed- 
erals, and at the mouth of the Kio Grande was a small 
garrison ; along the Atlantic coast, in addition to the block- 



936 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, ade, many important places were beld ; and on the Gulf, 



Pensacola and New Orleans. Such was the position when 
■ General Grant assumed supreme command. His design 
was to keep Lee and Johnston so much pressed that they 
would be unable, as heretofore, to aid each other. 

Sherman was ready to move. At Dalton, thirty miles 
southeast of Chattanooga,, was the Confederate army, 30,000 
strong, and, by its well-chosen position, equal to twice that 
number. Here Johnston was waiting to be attacked, when 
lie learned that a portion of the Union army, by a rapid 
march tlirough passes and gaps, had flanked him upon his 

May left and was threatening the railroad in his rear, while 
another portion was moving upon his front, and still an- ■ 
other on his right was marching round bis army ; be was 
therefore compelled to give up his stronghold and fall back 
eighteen miles to Eesaca, another strong position behind 
Camp Creek, its whole line well fortified on steep hills. 

May Sherman reconnoitered and again flanked his adversai'y. 

^^- Johnston at one time, tliiuking he had discovered a weak 
point in the Union lines, made an attack upon the Twen- 
tieth Corps, Hooker's, but was repulsed at all points and 
driven from several strongholds. Foiled at evei-y attempt, 
he moved his forces against the Union left flank, and at 7 
p. M. the Confederates came in tremendous force and over- 
whelming numbers upon that point. The Federals were 
forced back. Suddenly a cheer was heard, and Hooker's 
Corps came up, and the first intimation they gave the 
enemy was the cheer, which was followed by a rush over 

j^jgy. the dead bodies of their comrades. They broke the enemy's 
16. line beyond recovery, and drove them more than a mile. 
At 2 next morning the Confederates evacuated Resaca, 
passing over Oostenaula Eiver and breaking down the bridge 
behind them, and moved on until they reached the Etowah 
Eiver, over winch they crossed and took position in the 
mountains around Altoona. On the crest of these moun- 
tains were carefully arranged batteries to sweep every ap- 
proach, and here Johnston resolved to fight a decisive 



DEATH OF BISHOP POLK — KENESAW MOUNTAIN. 937 

battle. The Union army came up, but Sherman bad no chap. 
idea of sacrificiug bis men by assaulting so strong a posi- 



tion, and be flanked Jobnston again and compelled him to ' 
fall back toward Dallas. When within four miles of that 
place Hooker's division overtook him. A skirmish began, 
other divisions came up, and it became a battle severely 
contested ; but at length the Confedei-ates were driven back 
to where three important roads met. The Union soldiers 
threw up entrenchments during the night, which Johnston 
assaulted and was repulsed. The Federals afterward made 
an assault upon what was deemed a weak point of the 
enemy's line, and they, too, were repulsed. 

The Confederate commander remained quiet for two' 
days, and Sherman ordered a movement to his rear, and 
Johnston again thought best to fall back to the new posi- 
tion at Kenesaw Mountain, fortifying and extending his 
line about ten miles ; his centre, Pine Mountain, being much 
advanced. On tliese mountains the enemy had signal sta- 
tions, but Sherman's sign-corps soon learned their sign-code 
and revealed their secrets. Bishop-General Polk, with his J^® 
staff, came out on the crest of Pine Mountain to reconnoitre. 
A rifled field-piece was sighted by Captain Simonson, and 
fired at the group from one of the Union batteries, which 
shot killed the Bishop. The information was immediately 
communicated to both armies. 

Shennan decided to break the enemy's line at Pine 
Mountain, the advanced center, and a rapid artillery fire 
was opened upon it. During the next night Johnston 
abandoned the mountain. The following day tiie Union juae 
army pressed nearer and nearer, and Johnston retired to ^'^■ 
Kenesaw Mountain. Now followed several days of rain, 
and the Federals made but little progress in their ap- 
proaches. Hood's division of Confederates made an assault 
upon Hooker's advanced lines early in the morning, driving 
in the pickets, and came upon the main line beliind ex- 
temporized breastworks. They were repulsed, leaving the 22^ 
field covered with their dead. Johnston had fortified his 



938 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAJT PEOPLE. 

CHAP, linos with great care, and Sherman resolved to make ap- 
proaches and assault tliem. The assault was made, but 



*' '■ failed to carry the point, yet the Union soldiers held their 
advanced position, and Johnston again evacuated his lines 
in the night, and retired toward the Chattahoochee Eiver, 
to a new fortified line on which a thousand or more slaves 

J"^'y had been engaged a month. The fortifications along this 
line of retreat were constructed more or less by the same 
hands. Siierman followed up, and by flanking his adver- 
sary right and left, held the river eighteen miles above and 
ten miles below him, while Thomas was pressing him in 
front, and Johnston was compelled to cross the river dunng 

July ' the night, burning the bridge and his pontoons, and fell 
back toward Atlanta, five or six miles distant. Sherman 
delayed a few days to repair railways and bridges and 
strengthen important jioints. When ready he began to 
move on Atlanta. 

The Confederate authorities at Kiclimond were, dissat- 
isfied with Johnston, and he was relieved of his command 
and General John B. Hood appointed in his place. The 
latter was incautious to rashness, but full of courage. 

July " This appointment," says Sherman in his Memoirs, " meant 

^'^- fight." Strong breastworks had been constructed in front 
and around Atlanta. 

About noon, the Union soldiers, having come up within 
skirmishing distance, halted and were resting, when sud- 
denly the enemy rushed out of their nearest entrenchments, ■ 

July and fell with greatfury upon Hooker's corps and a portion of 

30. Howard's. The latter extemporized a barrier of fence-rails. 
After two hours fighting the assailants were forced to retire 
to their entrenchments, having lost more than 4,000, killed 
and wounded, and accomplislied nothing except to teach 
the Union army to be on its guard. The Federals, in con- 
tracting their lines and cutting communications, seized a 
hill near the Augusta Eailway, from which elevation cannon 
balls could be thrown into the streets of the city. This 



BATTLE— DEATH OF MOPHERSOX. 939 

liill the Confederates made a desperate attempt to recover, ?^f^i 
but were reijulscd witli loss. — ; — 

The Union army still contiDued coutracting its lines 
carefully, when about noon the scouts reported the enemy 
in motion and massing on the Union left. On they came "^"'^ 
without a note of warning, and the battle raged till dark, 
with occasionally a gaiu by the Confederates, but in the 
main they were rejjulsed with great loss, and the grasp of 
the besieging army became still more strong on' the doomed 
city. They made seven assaults during the day, and were 
as often repulsed. Hood's loss being at least twice as great 
as Sherman's. In this battle fell McPherson, only thirty 
years of age, but the most promising of the corps com- 
manders. General 0. 0. Howard was appointed to succeed 
McPherson in the command of the Army of the Tennessee. 

Meanwhile, the Union cavalry was malcing successful 
raids around Atlanta, destroying railways ; all of which 
were broken except the Macon and Atlanta. 

General Howard's corps was sent round to the right 
of the city to destroy a railroad. Hood was on tlie alert, 
and hurried out to crush the force before it could get 
assistance. On he came in solid columns, sweeping away 
the Union pickets ; but presently he came in the most 
reckless manner, with bis men crowded together upon the 
Federals, who were behind breastworks hastily constructed 
of logs, fence rails and stones. The Union soldiers, delib- 
erately taking aim, swept away line after line of his best 
men. The proportion of the killed was unusually large. 
"Six successive charges were made, which were six times juiy 
gallantly repulsed, each time with fearful loss of life." 28. 
Hood's lines were about twelve miles in extent, and his for- 
tifications were manned in part by recent levies, that be 
might use his veterans in the field. 

Sherman determined at all hazards to break the Macon 
and Atlanta railway, south of the city, and a large force 
accomplished the work effectually by burning the ties and 
heating the rails red hot, and winding them arotind trees 



.940 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, aud telegraph jioles. Hood, noticing that a large portion 

'- of Sherman's army were gone, thought they were retreating. 

^\ut' The rumor spread, and the citizens crowded to give him 
28. their congratulations, which he was receiving, when a 
courier on horseback dashed in and brought the astounding 
news that Sherman had possession of the road, and that 
Hardee, who had been sent with a large force to protect 
Jouesboro, was disastrously defeated. 

That night strange noises like earthquakes or explosions 
were heard in the direction of Atlanta. Hood was blowing 
up the magazines and evacuating the place. 

Sherman entered the once beautiful city, now almost 
2. ' a mass of ruins, and it was telegraphed over the land, 
" Atlanta is ours, and fairly won." Hood's scattered forces 
were afterward more or less united, and he made many 
attempts to annoy the Union army by cutting railroads and 
attacking places garrisoned, but in all these he totally 
failed. Sherman detached General Thomas and his corps 
with other divisions to move on Nashville and repel Hood 
should he make an attempt in that direction. Jefferson 
Davis after the fall of Atlanta visited the region, and at 
Macon encouraged the people by assuring them Sherman 
33_ ■ would yet be driven back, and "our cavali'y and our people 
will harass and destroy his army as did the Cossacks that 
6f Napoleon ; and the Yankee general like him will escape 
Isvith only a body guard." 

Sherman in one of his letters to Grant made a sugges- 
tion that it was "futile to chase round after Hood," but, 
leaving Tennessee in the hands of Tliomas, "to destroy 
Atlanta and inarch across Georgia to Savannah or Charles- 
ton, breaking roads and doing irreparable damage ; we 
cannot remain on the defensive." This led to the consid- 
eration of the question more fully, though it would seem a 
similar thought had occurred to Grant ; and preparations 
were made for the "march to tiie sea." Meantime, Hood 
with his army was hastening on toward middle Tennessee, 
expecting to defeat Thomas. 



THE CHRISTMAS GIFT. 941 

Sherman now destroyed in Atlanta the public buildings chap . 

used by the Confederates for military pur]ioses — no pri- 

vate dwellings or churches were injured — and set out to 
push across the country to the sea, and if need be come in 
the rear of Richmond. The army marched in two columns 
with spreading wings — extending sixty miles — so thoroughly 
bewildering the enemy that they were unable to make much j^^y 
opposition. This bold march ended December 10, within 16. 
a few miles of Savannah, and soon communication was had 
with the Union fleet which was in waiting. Three days Dec. 
later Fort McAllister, the defense of Savannah, was taken, ^*^- 
and General Hardee in consequence evacuated the city, 
which was immediately oceuj^ied by Union forces. Sher- 
man sent the following dispatch to President Lincoln : "I 

Dec 
beg leave to present, as a Christmas gift, the city of ^q. 

Savannah, with 150 heavy guns, and plenty of ammunition, 
and also 35,000 bales of cottou." 



CHAP TEE LXrV. 

LINCOLN'S ADHINISTKATION — CONTINUED. 

Grant's choice of suborJioates. — Battles in the "Wildercess.— Butler at 
Bermuda Huudreds. — Flaukiog Movemeat. — Early in the Val- 
ley. — Sheridan in the Valley. — Sheridan's ride.— The Mine Es.- 
ploJed. — Capture of Mobile.— Outrages in Missouri — Capture o( 
Wilmington.— Bittlrt of Nashville.— Defeat of Hood. 

Lxfv.' We now return to the Army of the Potomac. Arrange- 
. ments were iu preparation for the final struggle. General 
B. F. Butler was assigned to the general supervision of the 
force designed to follow up the James to Kichmond, and to 
make a diversion toward Petersburg. Ho had about 30,000 
men, under the command of Generals W. F. Smith and 
Gilmore — the latter had been recalled from Charleston 
Harbor with 10,000 men. General Sigel was in command 
in thatjamous battle-field of the war — Shenandoah Valley 
— in connection with General Crook on the Kanawha, West 
Virginia ; General Meade, the hero of Gettysburg, M^ith 
the main army on the north bank of the Rapidan. 

General Grant always showed great skill and knowledge 
of men in the choice of subordinate ofKcers ; nor did he 
ever seem to be influenced by professional jealousy. He 
brought with him to "Washington only three or four staff 
officers — no more than were absolutely necessary. The gen- 
eral plan of campaigns was marked out, and he availed 
himself of the skill of his subordinate commanders, who, in 
the details, were permitted to exercise their own Judgment 
in accordance with the general plan. Some of the best sug- 
gestions of generals in the field were frequently disregarded 
by Halleck, the commander-in-chief at Washington, as if 



BATTLES IN THE WILDERNESS. 943 

he knew better — though hundreds of miles away — thau tlie c'hap. 



1863. 



equally educated commander in the field. We must not 
overlook the private soldiers composing the armies of the 
Republic. They were intelligent and understood how much 
was involved in the contest ; with this knowledge they had 
left their homes, and were willing to risk their lives ia 
defense of the Union of their country, and frequently the 
superior intelligence, the bravery and dash of pilvate 
soldiers crowned with success important maneuvers. 

Lee's army lay on the South side of the Eapidan, vir- 
tually entrenched in the '"Wilderness." This is a barren 
region, covered with scrub-ouk and tufted trees, where a 
thousand soldiers could keep four times their number at 
bay. This was intersected by many narrow cross roads, 
bounded on either aide by a perfect jungle. The whole 
district and every road was thoroughly known to the Con- 
federate generals ; and Lee from his position and knowl- 
edge of the ground was thus able to throw, as he wished, a 
strong force on any particular point. 

The Union army crossed the Rapidan at Germana Ford Mny 
unopposed — purposely, says Childe, in order to secure a 
battle in the " Wilderaess." Grant had intended to pass 
rapidly through the wilderness, with as little fighting as 
possible, and force his adversary back toward Richmond, 
because in that jungle he could not deploy his men, and 
could only use about twenty out of his three hundred pieces 
of artillery; neither could he use his cavalry. Early the 
next morning the Union array began its onward march to 
get beyond this labyrinth of trees, when it was met at two 
points by two Confederate forces brought up by parallel 
roads. This was at first thought to be a feint, but at 11 May 
A.M. the battle began in earnest by the Union soldiers 
assaulting the enemy. The conflict of this day was pecu- 
liar. The soldiers groped for each other through the 
thicket, and with various successes in .different parts of 
the woods. It was a drawn battle — then both armies lay 
on their arms. 



9-M HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAJ. After receiving reports from his subordinates, Grant 

' issued orders for attacking the enemy the next morning, 

jyj ■ and at dawn Hancock's division, sustained by Wadsworth, 
C. fell furiously on tiie Confederate center, and after a few 
hours drove it a mile and a half, taking many prisoners. 
They were now reinforced, outnumbering Hancock, and 
in turn forced him back over the same ground, but at 11 
A.M. he made a stand from which the enemy failed to 
move him. Here fell General Wadswortb, a gentleman 
of excellent worth, and high social position ; and here also 
fell the Confederate Generals Jones, Jenkins and Stafford, 
very efficient officers. There was a lull for some hours, 
when the enemy at 4 p.m. made a desperate assault upon 
Hancock, and partially forced him from his position, but 
being reinforced the assailants were in turn driven back. 
Here Longstreet was severely wounded, and carried from 
the field, and Lee himself took immediate command. He 
restored order, but could not retrieve the field. 

When the Union center advanced the next morning, Lee 
was found to have fallen back to a second position strongly 
entrenciied. This line of battle was six miles long, along 
whicli raged the conflict ; Lee fell back again and afterward 
fought only from behind breastworks, except where it could 
not be avoided. The Confederates were evidently dis- 

^*y couraged, and when a portion of the Union army moved by 
night toward Spottsylvania Court House, Lee fell back lest 
he sliould be taken in the rear. Now commenced a series 
of conflicts in one of which General Sedgwick, one of the 
first of the corps commanders, was killed. 

Grant telegraphed to the Secretary of war: "we have 

jyjj^y now ended the sixth day of very heavy figliting. The result, 
11- to this time, is much in our favor. I propose to fight it out 
on tliis line if it takes all summer." 

The following morning at 4 o'clock, in a dense fog, the 

orders were given as quietly as possible, and the march was 

^3" in silence. Hancock made a dash at an advanced position 

of the enemy, rushed over the breastwork, and captured the 



^su. 



BUTLER — BERMUDA HUNDREDS. 946 

two Generals, Johnson and Stewart, and nearly 4,000 pris- chap. 

J > 1 LXIV. 

oners, and thirty guus. Hancock moved on and captured a 
second line of rifle pits ; this brought on a general battle 
which lasted all day, the latter part in the midst of a violent 
rain-storm. 

Grant now delayed to move for several days, in order 
that the wounded could be sent to hospitals. A large num- 
ber of surgeons arrived from the North, and members of 
both the Sanitary and Chiistian Commissions to take care 
of these wounded ; also reiuforcemcuts and supplies came 
up. 

General Sheridan set out at davlight with a large force May 

*" 1 Q 

of cavalry, moving toward Fredericksburg to deceive the 
enemy ; thou southward along the Confederate right, 
reached the railroad in their rear and destroyed ten miles 
of it, locomotives, trains of cars, and an immense amount of 
provisions, and released 400 captured Union soldiers. He, 
pursued his way, burning depots and breaking railroads. At 
length he fell in with the noted rebel raider J. E. B. Stnaj't ; 
they came to blows and the Confederates were defeated, 
leaving their commander, Stuart, dead on the field. Push- 
ing on, Sheridan came upon the outer defenses of Richmond 
itself. These he took, but found the second line too sfrong ; 
he retired rapidly to and across the Chickahominy, and 
after a raid of five days returned to the army. This raid, jj^y 
in its effects, was one of the most important in the war. 24. 

General Butler put his forces on transports and landed 
them at a plantation named Bermuda Hundreds, and then 
fortified his position. Then he sent a force, which after May 
severe fighting destroyed a railroad bridge and a portion of 
the track seven miles North of Petersburg ; the force cap- 
tured some entrenchments at the railroad. Beauregard 
was in command, and under the cover of a dense fog he 
made a vigorous attack on the advance, and compelled tiicm 
to fall back to Bermuda Hundreds, and then threw up en- 
trenchments paralled to Butler's and prevented his moving. ^ 

The Union army by a flank movement came upon the 16. 



946 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

^AP. Xorth bank of the North Anna ; Leo was found strongly 

posted beyoQd the river ; for three days Grant made demon- 

■ strations and then in the niglit commenced flanking his 
adversary, and Lee was again compelled to abandon his 
position and fall back ; all the Union army passed the 
Pami-.ukey river and moved on three miles toward Rich- 
mond. 

Here the Confederates made a sudden attack in great 
force, but were repulsed with loss. Then Grant, to test 

T their works, ordered an assault along the whole line. This 
June '^ 

3. was vigorously done, and the enemy were driven out of 

their first defenses and took shelter behind their second 

line. These were too strongly fortified to be easily taken. 

The Confederates duiing the day made wild charges against 

the Union lines, but in every instance were repulsed with 

loss. Lee ordered attacks on three successive nisrhts on 
.June 
7. the Union lines. Every one failed and his army sustained 

heavy losses. These night attacks showed the desperation 
of tiie enemy and the watchfulness of the Federals, who 
were never surprised. By agreement thej:e was now an 
armistice of two hours, in which both parties buried their 
dead and removed their wounded. 

General Grant, finding the fortifications very strong in 
front, determined to unite with Butler and move on Rich- 
mond by way of Petersburg, Iwenty-two miles south of tiie 
former. According to Childe, Lee deemed Richmond more 
assailable from this direction tlian from the north. 'J'his 
movement took the enemy by surprise, as it was accom- 
plished with so much celerity and with scarcely any ditii- 
culty. A portion of the troops passed by water down the 
York and up the James, and the remainder by land, cross- 
ing the James on pontoon bridges. Meantime an impor- 
tant cavalry raid, under Generals \Yilson and Kautz, was 
conducted south of Richmond, destroying a portion of the 
Weldon Railroad and the Southside and Danville — in all 
. about seventy miles, with I'olling stock and depots — and 
38. then, after severe fighting, returned to the army, having 



GENERAL EARLY IN THE VALLEY. 947 



CHAP. 

LXIV. 



1864. 



lost their light artillery. " The damage done the enemy in 
this expedition more than compensated for the loss sus- 
tained." 

Meanwhile General Sigel, who was in command in May 
Shenandoah Valley with too small a force — 8,000 men — ^''• 
was defeated by Breckenridge : General Crook, in West 
.Virginia, failing to cooperate with Sigel. General Hunter 
was appointed in Sigel's place, and he was ordered to 
move up the valley and destroy railroads in the vicinity of 
Staunton and Gordonsville, and General Crook was to come 
in from the Kanawha. Hunter hastened on and met the Ju°e 
enemy within twelve miles of Staunton, and after a conflict 
of ten hours routed them, capturing 1,500 prisoners ; their 
commander. General Jones, was killed. Hunter lost only 
fifty men. Three days later he occupied Staunton. Now 
joined by Crook's troops, he marched toward Lynchburg, 
to which place Lee had sent a large force by the railway. 
Hunter's ammunition had given out, and he, skirmishing 
on the way with the enemy, fell back, not toward Grant's 
army as was expected, and from which Sheridan made a raid 
in order to meet him, but toward West Virginia, This 
retreat left the valley once more open to the Confederates, 
who, under General Early, pushed on in force to make a 
raid into Maryland and Pennsylvania to obtain plunder and 
supplies, and as usual make a demonstration against Wash- 
ington and induce Grant to send reinforcements from his 
army. The latter promptly sent troops from the James, 
and ordered others to follow who had just arrived in Hamp- 
ton Roads from New Orleans. 

Early, with about 30,000 men, moved rapidly down the 
valley to Martinsburg, where Sigel was in command with a 
small force. The latter retreated across the Potomac. 
The enemy followed rapidly, and crossing over arrived at 
Hagerstown ; the citizens paying them $20,000 they agreed 
not to burn the town. General Lew Wallace attacked the 
invaders so vigorously with his Union raw levies as to 
x'etard them until more troops arrived ; then he, being still 



July 



gj.3 HIST0E1 OF THE A3IEKICAS PEOPLE. 

CHAP, outnumbered, fell back, aud the Confederates moved toward 



1884. 



Auj. 



Wasbington ; but being met by the bold attacks of General. 
Auger they retired across the Potomac, and were in turn 
pursued by Averill with cavalry, who overtook their rear 
guard at Winchester and captured 500 prisoners. 

By this time Hunter had arrived from West Virginia, 
and was ordered to maintain liis position, but Early was 
reinforced and again began to move down the valley, forc- 
ing the Union troops back by outflanrking them. 

At this time another Confederate cavalry raid was made 
into Pennsylvania under McClausland ; he suddenly ap- 
jieared before the village of Charabersburg, then defence- 
less, aud dem'inded •$500,000 ransom. The citizens were 
unable to raise so large a sum. and the raiders deliberately 
set the village on fire and burned two-thirds of it. In no 
instance, as far as known, did tlie Union soldiers purposely 
burn tlie private dwellings of a village. 

General Grant, to satisfy himself, hastened from City 
Point to confer with General Hunter, and directed him to 
pursue the Confederates up the valley and "to keep the 
enemy in siylit" ; to sweep the valley clean of provisions 
tliat might aid them, but protect private buildings as far as 
possible. Hunter expressed a desire to be relieved ; Grant 
accepted the resignation and appointed Slieridan to succeed 
him, and formed the "Military Department of West Vir- 
ginia, Washington, and Shenandoah Valley." 

Sheridan soon inspired his men with his owri entluisi- 
asm, and, being reinforced both by infantry and cavalry, he 
prepared to act promptly. Grant visited Sheridan to assure 
liimself, and after an interview he was assured that the 
vonng commander understood himself and the enemv, and 
{.j_ ' Ijis simple order was, "Go in." In two days Sheridan 
moved, aud, early in the morning, attacked Early* and 
after figliting all day carried his entire position and drove 
him tiirough Winchester. Early lost 3,500 killed and 
Sept. wounded and 5,000 prisoners, and he did not dare stop till 
he reached Fisher's Hill, thirty miles soutli of Winchester. 



shekidan's ride. 949 

Scarec'ly bad lie halted to rest his men when the indomitable ^^^; 

Sheridan jjoiiuced upon him, driving his forces through ■ 

Harrisonburg and Staunton and scattering them through 
the gaps of the Blue Eidge. Sheridan sent forward his 
cavalry to destroy a portion of the Virginia Central Eail- 
way, and then fell back to Cedar Creek to rest and refresh 32. " 
liis men. 

About a mouth later Early gathered his scattered forces, 
and, being heavily I'einforced, moving rapidly and secret- 
ly, he. early in the morning, fell suddenly upon the sleep- 
ing Union soldiers, who were completely taken by surprise, 

but soon recovered themselves and sullenly fell back. Sher- Oct. 

19 
idan was at Winchester, twenty miles distant, when his ear 

first caught the faint roar of booming cannon. Suspecting 
what was going on, he mounted his horse and rode at full 
speed, and met his men retreating, they having been driven 
four miles. He dashed into their midst, and, waving his 
hat, exclaimed, "Face the other way, boys; we are going 
back!" Inspired by his presence, his men, with loud 
cheers, faced about and fell into line. The enemy, for the 
most part, had stopped to plunder the Federal camp. The 
Union cavalry, meanwhile, moved round and attacked them 
in flank, while the encouraged infantry charged in front. 
They were in a short time completely routed and driven 
from the field, abandoning everything ; neither did they 
stop until they reached Staunton. Thus ended C!oufederate 
efforts to hold the valley or to invade the North. General 
Grant telegraphed to the Secretary of War: "This glori- 
ous victory stamps Sheridan, what I have always thought 
him, one of the ablest of generals." Sheridan was ap- 
pointed by the President a Major-General in the regular 
ariny in place of General McClellan, who had recently Nov. 
resigned. 

Colonel Henry Pleasants, of the Pennsylvania Volun- 
teers, a practical minor, jiroposed to mine a certain jJoint in 
the enemy's works before Petersburg. The proposition was 
accepted and the work commenced. In less than a month 



950 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAI^ PEOPLE. 

CHAP, it was fiinshed. It extended several liundred feet, and ter- 

minatcd directly under a redoubt. In the mine was placed 

Juoe ^°"'' *'°'^^ ^^ powder. It was a success, and was exploded 
25. with terrible effect, tearing the redoubt to pieces; but un- 
July fortunately, by some mismanagement, the explosion was not 
followed up by assault, as it ought to have been, and noth- 
ing of value was accoraplislied. 

Around Petersburg the defenses were so well arranged 
and so well manned that it was madness to throw away 
human life in assaulting them, as one man within such 
entrencliments was at least equal to five outside. The 
•^^S- Union array was not idle. A strong detachment seized 
Weldon Eailway, and held it in spite of the most strenuous 
efforts on the })art of the enemy to dislodge them. Several 

other movements were made, but without material success — 
Oct 

27.' one on the north side of the James, and another at Hatch- 
er's Run. 

T!ie capture of Mobile — the main port for blockade 
runners on the Gulf — had been delayed for lack of coopera- 
tion on the part of land forces. At length it was under- 
taken by Admiral Farragut with his iron-clads and war 
ships, and General Canby, detached from New Orleans for 
July ^^^ purjiose. The expedition arrived, and arrangements 
8- were made on board the flag-ship, the Hartford, with Gen- 
eral Canby. Mobile Bay is thirty miles long and twelve 
miles wide, and vras defended by several strong forts, and 
within were floating the Confederates' main reliance, the 
.ram Tennessee \xn^ several iron-clads — all under Rear-Admi- 
ral Buchanan — besides numerous dangerous torpedoes. 
The troops were landed on the west side of Dauphine 
Island, on the west side of the Bay. to operate against Fort 
5^' Gaines. 

At 4.45 A.M. the fleet, each vessel having another lashed 
to it, steamed in between the forts and gave their broad- 
sides at short distance. Admiral Farragut. lashed to the 
maintop of the Hartford, had the fleet under his eye, and 
gave his commands by signals. The monitor Tecumseh, 



OUTRAGES IN MISSOUEI — WILMINGTON CAPTURED. 951 

wliich was to attack . the ram Tennessee, ran foul of a tor- j^^- 

pedo and was sunk. Tben the Admiral himself turiled his 

1864. 
attention to the ram. Several vessels ran butt against the 

Tennessee, and poured in their bi'oadsides at short range. 

Finally the Hartford bore down and gave her a broadside 

of nine-inch solid shot. The Tennessee surrendered ; Fort 

Gaines also hauled down its colors. On the east side of the 

Bay Fort Morgan held out, and was opened upon ; after a 

bombardment of fifteen hours, it ran up the white flag. ■^"#- 

This closed the port of Mobile to English blockade runners. 

As the city was strongly fortified, it was not worth the 

investment. 

General Eosecrans" was assigned to the command in 
Missouri, his headquarters at St. Louis. This State was Jan. 
infested by disloyal secret societies, and so many soldiers 
had been sent to reinforce tlie armies in Northern Georgia 
that it was stripped of its defenders. Bands of bush- 
whackers were prowling over the State murdering and pil- 
laging. In one instance they seized a railroad train on 
which wei'e twenty-two unarmed and sick Union soldiers ; 
these were taken out and shot! Sterling Price took the 
opportunity to invade the State in v,hich he was once 
honored as Governor. General Pleasanton, with a force of 
Union cavalry, pursued and overtook him at Big Blue, Q^,^ 
crushed his force, and Price fled still further south, and 22. 
made another stand at the Little Osage. There he was 
most disastrously defeated, losing all his guns and 1,000 
prisoD(!rs. So eager were some of the Union soldiers to 
catch him that they rode one hundred and two miles in 
tbirtv-six hours. This was the last of the enemy's raids Oct. 
into Missouri ; and the land had rest. 

Wilmington, N. C, was defended by Fort Fisher, which 
commanded the harbor. This place became most impor- 
tant for blockade runners, and the Government resolved to 
capture the forts and break up this contraband trade. The 
first expedition failed by mismanagement, and the second 
captured Fort Fisher, after hard figliting, with its garrison 15.' 



352 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 



1884. 



Lxfv.' ^od entire armament. Two clays afterward the Confed- 
erates' blew up Fort Caswell. This gave the Union navy 
complete control of the river, much to the grief of the 
Feb. Englisli blockade runners. The Union forces took posses- 
sion of Wilmington. 

When Sherman set out for the seaboard, Hood moved 
northward with an army of 35,000 men, he confronted 
Tliomas's cavalry which checked him near Florence, Ala- 
bama, and continued to skirmish before him as lie ad- 
vanced. It was rumored that Hood intended to invade 
middle Tennessee ; numerous expeditions both of Confeder- 
ate and Federal cavaliy were made during the montlis of 
October and November. Thomas, meauwliile, was fortifying 
Nashville, and having the control of the Cumberland river 
by means of eiglit gunboats he was at no loss for provis- 
ions. General Scbofield, who fell back slowly in order to 
gain time, made a halt at Franklin, his men at once with 
spade and axe entrenching themselves. This liad become 
a custom witli tlie Union soldiers, tlieir aptness enabled 
them to throw up breastworks in an almost incredibly short 
„ time. Hood assaulted these defenses of logs and earth 
ao. several times, and was as often repulsed witli great loss ; he 
liad 1,750 killed and 3,800 wounded while Schofield had 
only 189 killed and 1,033 wounded. Schofield fell back, in 
accordance with orders, to Nashville ; the next day Hood's 
cavalry came up and the day after the infantry ; their prog- 
Dec, ress was arrested by a series of fortifications on the hills 
^- around the city. 

Much uneasiness was felt in thecountry because Thomas 
did not attack Hood, and even Grant was on the eve of re- 
lieving him of command. 
Dec. When ready the sure but cautious Thomas moved out nf 

1^- Nashville, a heavy fog — which did not lift till noon — favor- 
ing secrecy, with all his troojis in order. A heavy demon- 
stration was made against Hood's right by General Stedman, 
by which movement Hood was deceived, and sent reinforce- 
ments from liis left and center. Then at the proper moment 



hood's defeat and lo§ses. • 953 

Generals Smith and Wilson swung round and attacked the ™ap. 



18G4. 



weak point and carried every thing before them ; in one in- 
stance, the cavah-y dismounted and carried a redoubt sabre 
in hand, then a second redoubt the same troops carried in 
the same manner. Then Montgomery Hill, Hood's most 
advanced position, was carried and many prisoners captured. 
Thus the Confederates were driven out of their original line 
of works and forced back along the base of Haiiicth Hills, 
a new position. The result of the day was the capture of 
1,200 prisoners and sixteen pieces of artillery, arms and 
wagons ; the Union loss was light. 

The Federal army bivouaced on the field, ^nd prepared Dec. 
to drive the enemy on the morrow. At 6 a.m. they drove 
back the enemy's skirmishers, and came upon a hne of 
works constructed during the night on Overton's hill. 
Thomas soon arranged his men with a purpose, and felt of 
the enemy along their lines, then about 3 p.m. ordered an 
assault on Overton's hill. This was in full sight of Hood, 
who sent reinforcements from his right and center. The 
columns moved to the assault, and thoroughly drew the 
enemy's fire, but they were finally compelled to fall back to 
be reformed. The signal was given and then upon the 
Confederate right and center, thus weakened, rushed the 
Union forces under Smith and Schofield, and carried all 
before them with the greatest impetuosity. Meanwhile, 
the assaulting columns — having been reformed — for the 
second time moved upon Overton's hill, and carried it at 
the point of the bayonet. lu this assault the colored troops 
behaved with great bravery. The whole Confederate line 
was broken beyond reeovei'y; the pursuit continued till 
dark. This was a most disastrous defeat. From Hood's 
entrance till his retreat from Tennessee he lost at least 
24,000 men and 53 pieces of artillery. The desertions from 
his ranks were enormous ; so that the power of the rebellion 
in the West was now broken forever. 

Breckenridge was detailed by the Confederate authori- Nov. 
ties to move into East Tennessee, especially to capture ^^- 



954: HISTORY OF THE AilEKICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP. Knoxvillo. He had some success at first, but General 
Stoneman, then at Louisville, was sent to take command, 
and in the short space of four days drove his forces out of 
the State. 



1864 



CHAPTER LXV. 
Lincoln's administration — continued. 

Grant's design. — Platforms of Parties.— Second Inauguration — Disposi- 
tion of Union forces.— Lee's Plans— Battle of Five Forks. — Jefferson 
Davis Flees. — Lee Surrenders. — Richmond on Fire and Occupied. — 
Johnston's Surrender. — The Assassination. — Ttie Funeral.— An- 
drew JuLnfon. — Tbe Interview between Mr. Lincoln and Grant 
and Sherman.- Union Loss in the Rebellion.— Blockade Raised. 
— The Old Flag on Sumter. — Amnesty Proclamation — English 
Cruisers. — Alabama and Kearsage.— Lord John Russell's Protest. — 
Louis Napoleon. — No French Blockade Runners. — Provisional Gov- 
ernors. — Telegraph— Reconstruction. — Impeachment Trial. — Presi- 
dential Election. 

We now return to before Richmond. The victory of chap. 

Thomas and the advance of Sherman toward the coast had '■ 

given a sad aspect to the Confederate cause. It was Grant's •^°^*- 
design to keep Lee and his forces in and around Richmond 
till such tinje as he could be captured with his whole army, 
as he misht possibly retreat by Lynchburg to south westcni 
Virginia or to western North Carolina, and protract the 
war still further. 

The platforms of the two parties, Republican and Dem- 
ocratic, may be taken as exponents of their political views 
during this Presidential canvass. The former said : '-We 
approve the determination of the government not to com- 
promise with rebels, nor to offer any terms of peace eycept 
such as may be based upon an unconditional surrender of 
their hostility, and a return to their just allegiance to the 
Constitution and laws of the United States." And "as 
slavery was the cause of this rebellion." and used for its aid, 
the Convention expressed itself in favor of an amendment 
to the Constitution that should forever prohibit slavery in 
the United States. The Convention also approved the 
Emancipation Proclamation and the ''employment a? Union 



1864. 



956 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

*lW" soldiers of men hitherto held in slavery"; and "that the 
national faith, pledged for the redemption of tiie jjublic 
debt, must be kept inviolate." 

The Democratic Convention resolved "That this Con- 
vention does explicitly declare that, after four years of 
failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, 
that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, 
with a view to a Convention of all the States, or other 
j^eaceable means to the end that at the earliest practicable 
moment jjeace may be restored on the basis of the Federal 
Union of the States." The Convention was silent in respect 
to slavery and the payment of the public debt. Mr. Lin- 
coln was elected ; only three States east their Totes for 
McClellan. 

Why_ the Confederates did not submit with as good 
grace as they could after their defeat at Gettysburg and the 
fall of Vieksburg and Port Hudson — all within ten days — 
is one of the marvels of this marvelous rebellion. They 
were expecting the Democratic party to come into power in 
1864, which they deemed more favorable to them. Says 
Cliilde : " The choice assured the election of Mr. Lincoln, 
and the defeat of General McClellan, who was regarded as 
more favorable to the Southerners."' Tlie inconsiderate 
boast was made again and again by some of their leaders 
that they would never submit, but as guerrillas take to the 
fastnesses of the mountains. Under the circumstances this 
was nothing short of madness. Had they been fighting 
against a people of differeat race and civilization, such sen- 
timents might savor of ])atriotism. 

On the Fourth of March Mr. Lincoln entered upon his 
second Presidential term. In the course of his inaugural 
he uses the following striking language: "Fondly do we 
hope, personally do we pray, that the scourge of war may 
speedily pass away. Yet if God wills it to continue until 
all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and 
fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every 
1 Life of Lee, p. 291. 



DISPOSITION OF UNION FORCES. 957 

drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid by another '^^'*- 
drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, — ; — 
so, still it must be said, that the judgments of the Lord are 
true and righteous altogether." Further on he indicates 
his purpose, saying: "With malice toward none, with 
charity for all, with lirraness in the right, as God gives us 
to see the right." 

Dispositions were now made of llie Union forces that 
would in a short campaign break the Confederacy to pieces. 
Sheridan from the valley was to move toward Lyncliburg, 
destroying James River Canal and railroads ; and Stoneman 
to move from East Tennessee witli a cavalry force of 5,000 ; 
one from Vicksl)urg, 7,000 or 8,000 strong, to sweep 
through Northei'n Mississippi ; one from East Port, Miss., 
numbering 10,000 ; General Cauby, from Mobile, with a 
mixed army of 38,000, to move on Tuscaloosa, Schna and 
Montgomery ; and 5,000 cavalry were to start fi'om Nash- 
ville. Thfise movements were to be simultaneous as much 
as jjossible. 

Of these, Sheridan was the first to move. He left Win- 1865. 
Chester with two divisions of cavalry each 5,000 strong. 37 ' 
Passing up the valley, entered Staunton ; the enemy re- 
treated, and he pushed on in pursuit to find them in force 
under General Early in an intrenched position af Waynes- 
boro. Without waiting to reconnoiter, he assaulted the 
works and carried them, and secured 1,500 prisoners and 
eleven pieces of artillery. Thence his men rode to Char- ^J' 
lottesville, making havoc of railroads and bridges, toward 
Lynchburg and Richmond, moving along the James River 
Caual, destroying locks and cutting the banks to let out the 
water, then passed around and north of Richmond and 
joined the army before Petersburg. This was the most M^r. 
effective cavalry raid of the war. 

Lee had laid plans to evacuate both Petersburg and 
Richmond, and unite near Danville with the force of John- 
ston, who was to fall back from before Sherman's advance. 
To cover this movement he made a vigorous attack on 



958 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

ci^P- Grant's army, intending when it was in confusion to march 



rapidly by the Cox road toward Dauville. Accordingly 
j£g,.' Confederate troops under General Gordon, at daylight, 
^5- furiously assaulted Fort Stedman, a jjoint in the Union 
lines. The garrison were surprised by the suddenness of the 
attack, and were overpowered. Tlie triumph was short. 
The neighboring Union forts poured in their shot so inces- 
santly that in a short time Gordon's troops, 2,000 in all, 
were forced to surrender. General Meade now ordered 
forward the .Second and Sixth Corps, who seized the Con- 
federate well-intrenched picket line, securing a large num- 
ber of prisoners. On the extreme Federal left a similar 
move was made with similar success. At 2 p.m. Lee made 
an effort to regain these lines, but his'forees were repulsed 
in eyei-y attempt, and with great loss. To make a junction 
with Johnston was now impossible. 

Grant at once resolved to attack the enemy and cut «ff 
their retreat by the Danville road. In preparation he 
secretly sent troo23s to his extreme left and gave orders to 
Sheridan to move on Dinwiddle Court House. Lee learned 
of these movements, and suspecting the design threw 
17,000 of his best men to the support of his right. A 
severe storm of rain retarded operations for two days. Lee 
endeavored to use his accustomed tactics of tlirowing a 
Mar. large force upon a weak point, and in this battle of White 
Oak road he gained advantage at first, but only to be beaten 
off ; and finally the Federal troops carried the very earth- 
works from which the enemy issued, and obtained posses- 
sion of the road. 

Lee had fortified Five Forks — a crossing where five 
roads meet — a strategic point of great importance, by 
which was his only way of retreat. Toward this place both 
armies made their way. When the Union cavalry reached 
Five Forks they found the enemy in position and were com- 
pelled to fall back. The Confederates at once pushed on 
vigorously, and fording a stream attacked Sheridan's left 
center and drove it back ; but presently a fresh brigade, by 



Mar. 
28. 



BATTLE — PIVE FORKS. 959 

a gallant oaset, checked their advance for a time. Sheridan <^hap. 

dismounted his cavalry and managed them so skillfully as - 

to repel the attack at every point. At dark the Confcder- ^^^^' 
ates withdrew to their eutrencliments at Five Forks, where 
Lee had concentrated his forces. The control of the com- 
ing battle was entrusted to Sheridan, who was on the field, 
by Generals Grant and Meade. The former promptly made 
dispositions of his troops, and in the early morning com- Apr 
menced the attack. The Union force under General Mer- ■^• 
lit drove the Confederates in fror/t of them to the Five 
Forks skirmish line, then by impetuous attacks they were 
by two P.M. driven witliin their main works. Sheridan in 
his report says : " The enemy were driven from their strong 
line of works and completely routed ; the Fifth Corps 
doubling up their left flank in confusion and the cavalry of 
General Merritt dashing on to the White Oak road, capturing 
their artillery and turning it upon them, and riding into 
their broken ranks so demoralized them that they made no 
serious stand after their line was carried, but took to flight 
in disorder." The Confederates were pursued six miles, 
and lost, besides the killed and wounded, between five 
and six thousand prisoners. . 

The following night was made hideous by a constant Apr 
bombardment along the whole Union line, and at 4 a.m. 
Sunday, a combined assault was successfully made upon the 
enemy's works and the South Side Eailroad was seized. 
The Confederates, driven on their left by Meade and by 
Sheridan on their right, were broken, and in great confu- 
sion rushed in a mass westward by the main road along the 
bank of the Appomattox. 

The following night was one of terror in Kichmond. 
At the last moment the citizens were conTinced that their 
city must fall into the hands of the Federal troops. Jeffer- 
son Davis had already gone. When in church in the after- 
noon he received a telegram from Lee, stating that his army 
had been driven from their fortifications, and Petersburg 
was occupied, and he must evacuate Eichmond. Lee was 



/ 

960 HISTORY OF THE A3IERICAK PEOPLE. 

ijH^. moviag toward the Danville road, in hopes to form a ]uac- 

tion with Johnston, who, at his instance, had been put iu 

' command of the Confederates hastily concentrated to oppose 
Sherman. It was of vast importance that both Lee's and 
Johnston's armies should be captured and the war ended. 
At length, when Lee was completely surrounded. General 

^^P''- Grant sent a note under a flag of truce to him, saj'ing, " I 
regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility 
of any further effusion of blood by asking of you the sur- 
render of the army under your command." Several com- 
mnnieatioTis passed between the opposing generals. Finally 
Grant wrote, " The terms upon which peace can be had 
are well understood. By the South laying down their arms 
they will hasten that most desirable event, save thousands 
^ of human lives, and hundreds of millioub wf property not 
yet destroyed." An interview was held between the two 
commanders. The result was the Confederates laid down 
their arms, and were paroled as prisoners of war and per- 

^\^p,. mitted to return to their homes. " The victors were mag- 
'J- nanimous ; they abstained from every appearance of insult 
toward the vanquished. Abundant victuals wore distrib- 
uted to the prisoners, who were dying of hunger."' 

On Monday, April 4tb, about noon, General Weitzel 
occupied Eichmond. which was iu a sad condition, on fire, 
and iu the bauds of thieves and robbers. The Union sol- 
diers, as so often before, used their eilorts to extinguish 
the flames and arrest the plundering. Both of these were 
accomplished by night, when peace and order once more 
reigned. Thus it was, from the wanton burning of Hamp- 
ton village to the firing of Richmond, the private property 
of the Southern people suffered from the insane folly of her 
leaders. General Ewell, commanding the rear guard of the 
Confederate 'army, destroyed the bridges over the James 
river, and then, obeying his instructions to the letter, but 
against the earnest protest of the mayor and principal citi- 
zens, set on fire warehouses and flour-mills. Says Pollard, 
Life of Lee, p. 321. 



1865. 



DAVIS'S PROCLAMATION — BURNING OF COLUMBIA. 961 

" The warelionscs were fired ; the flames seized on the "j^^- 
neighboring buildings, and soon involved a wide and widen- 
ing ai'ea. The conflagration passed beyond control, and in 
this mad fire, this wild, unnecessary destruction of private 
property, the citizens of Eichmond had a fitting souvenir 
of the imprudence and recklessness of the departing admin- 
istration." 

Jefferson Davis paused in his flight at Danville, Virginia, 
to issue a proclamation ; after alluding to the abandonment 
of Petersburg and Eichmond he says : " Virginia, with the 
help of the people, and by the blessing of Providence, shall 
be held and defended, and no peace ever be made with the 
infamous invaders of her territory." A little more than a 
month afterward, he was captured while in disguise attempt- jj 
ing to escape. He was brought to Fortress Monroe and 
there imprisoned under an indictment for treason, but 
his trial was postjioned from time to time, and finally he 
was released on bail. When the Union troops arrived at 1867. 
Columbia, South Carolina, they found the place evacuated 
by Wade Hampton, who before leaving had ordered the cot- 
ton stored in the place to be burned, much of it in bales in 
the street ; the Union soldiers labored to put out the fire 
and thought they were successful, but at night came up a 
high wind, the smouldering fire revived and spread in spite 
of the Provost Marshal and his soldiers ; the greater portion 
of the beaiitiful village was burned. 

General Sherman pressed on Johnston, and having re- 
ceived the news of the surrender of Lee, he moved from 
Goldsboro to Ealcigh, the capital of the State, which place 
was occupied, much to the relief of the inhabitants, who 
were being pillaged by desperadoes from tlieir own array. 1865. 
Johnston also had heard of Lee's surrender, and sent a flag ^]' 
of truce to Sherman asking an armistice preliminary to a 
surrender; a conference was held by the two eommanuers 
and an arrangement made for the surrender of Johnston's 
army ; this was so far modified by the authorities at 
Washington as to conform to the conditions on which Lee 



962 HISTOKT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLK 

CHAP, had surrendered. The other Confederate armies throngb- 

LXV 

L out tlie South submitted, Kirby Smith in Texas being the 

1865. ]^g(; . _^qJ tij^g (;i^e greatest rebellion in history collapsed. 

In the midst of the rejoicings at the downfall of Lee and 
capture of Richmond, and the sure anticipation of the fate 
of Johnston's army, the President was assassinated by John 
■]j^' Wilkes Booth ; a violent sympathiser with the rebellion, 
though of Northern birth. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln were 
seated in a private box in a theater when the fatal shot was 
fired, at about half past nine in the evening ; Mr. Lincoln 
lingered till twenty minutes past seven the follov/ing morn- 
ing. Never before did the nation manifest such intense 
grief as this event produced. The sorrow of the army was 
striking and remarkable ; yet those noble men in the midst 
of their grief never whispered of retaliation in any form. 
Says General Johnston in relation to the bearing of the 
Union army after his own surrender, and just after the assas- 
sination became known: "The Union soldiers treated the 
peofde around them as they would have done those of 
Ohio or New York if stationed among them as their fellow 
citizens.'" 

Mr. Lincoln had endeared himself to all, even to great 
numbers of his political oppoaents, by his self devotion and 
kindness of heart, and that rare combination of talent and 
common sense which made him equal to any emergency in 
which he might be placed. In him the Soutliern people , 
lost their best friend ; and that truth the intelligent among 
them recognized. The remains of the Martyr President 
were carried to Springfield, Illinois, his former place of 
residence. It was an immense funeral procession, lasting 
for fourteen days ; the people along the route thronging in 
crowds to pay honor to his memory. He was laid in his last 
resting place on the 4th of May. 

It would seem the conspirators aimed at the same time 
to assassinate the members of the Cabinet. The attempt 
was made to kill Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, who at the 
'Military Narrative, p. 419. 



JOHNSON PRESIDENT — BOOTH, 96S 



time was confined to his room by illness. The assassin chap. 
failed though he wounded Mr. Seward, and also his son 
Frederick W. , assistant Secretary. 



1865. 



JOHNSON S ADMINISTRATION. 

Andrew Johnson, by virtue of his office as Vice-Presi- 
dent, and in accordance with the law, assumed the duties of 
President of the TJn ited States. He was a native of Raleigh, ig_ ' 
North Carolina ; tbence removed to Grreen\'ille, Tennessee. 
In his youth his education had been much neglected, not 
even knowing the alphabet at the age of seventeen ; 
but by his energy and perseverance he not only educated him- 
self but won the respect of his fellow citizens, who elected 
him alderman, then Mayor ; then their representative in 
the Legislature, then to Congress and finally Governor of 
the State. 

Booth escaped by leaping from the box to the stage, 
and then by a side door to the street, where a horse was 
in readiness, which he mounted and rode rapidly away, 
accompanied by an accomplice named Harold. He was 
pursued vigorously, and a few days afterward was traced to 
a bam in lower Maryland, and when it was surrounded he 
was ordered to surrender, but refused, though Harold gave 
himself up. Booth, in desperation, resolved to sell his 
life dearly, but before he could do harm he was shot down 
by Sergeant Corbett, one of his pursuers. Others of the 
conspirators were arrested, tried by court martial, four of 
them were found guilty and hanged, and the three accom- July 
plices were sentenced to imprisonment for life. 

In an interview between President Lincoln and Gen- Mar. 
erals Grant and Sherman, on board a steamer at City ^8. 
Point, Virginia, the two generals gave as their opinion 
that one more bloody battle would have to be fought before 
the power of the rebellion could be broken. Mr. Lincoln, 
with deep emotion, exclaimed more than once, "That 
there had been blood enough shed, and asked if another 



964 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

ci|AP. battle could not be avoided." The answer was, "That 

depended on Jefferson Davis and General Lee." Dnrina; 

the interim Mr. Lincoln said, "All he wanted for us was 
to defeat the opposing armies, and to get the men com- 
posing the Confederate armies back to their homes, at 
work on their farms and in their shops,"' "and restore all 
the men of both sections to their homes." In accordance 
with this sentiment General Grant, as soon as Lee surren- 
dered, advised the reduction of the armies, that the men 
might return to civil life and their duties as citizens; he 
even did not visit Kichmond, bixt hastened to Washington 
to facilitate the disbaudment. Daring the last weeks of 
April and the first of May were witnessed many imposing 
scenes, — the returning soldiers undergoing their last 
reviews before leaving for their distant homes to be mus- 
tered out of the service, and to resume their duties as 
citizens. Such an imposing sight was never before seen of 
armies so large, the soldiers of which had so intelligent a 
view of the great principles for the establishment of which 
they had freely risked their lives in the perils of battle. 
They were greeted by ovations all along their route, and 
welcomed home as the saviors of the Union — that heir- 
loom handed down fi'om the fathers. Yet, also, how sad 
the occasion ; amid the joy many an eye filled with tears 
and breast heaved with sorrow for the numbers who went 
at their country's call but who had laid down their lives 
on distant battle-fields. Many a regiment with its full 
complement of men which had set out inspired with hope 
and patriotism, came back with its banners draggled and bat- 
tered by hostile balls, and perhaps with not more than one- 
fourth of its original number. 

The following is a record copied from the lists at the 
War Office, at Washington, of the killed and wounded on 
the Union side during the EebeUion : 

Killed 35.408 

Died of wounds 49,205 

Wounded 400,9*5 

1 Sherman's Memoirs, Vol. 11., p. 326-7. 



BLOCKADE RAISED — AMNESTY PEOCLAMATIOlf. 965 

There has not been kept a perfect roll or list of the "j^^- 

Confederate killed and wounded, but the number is esti 

mated at very nearly the same. 

The nation incurred a debt of nearly three thousand 
million dollars, which has been so far paid as to amount 
now to about two thousand one hundred and twenty-eight 
millions ; the nation having paid of its debt about eight Dec. 
hundred and seventy millions in ten years. ^• 

The Government, as soon as it was proper, raised the i865. 
blockade of the Southern ports and reduced both the army 
and navy. The men of the arm}', in a remarkably short 
time, returned to their homes and families, and entered 
upon their civil duties with the self-respect natural to those 
who honestly have performed services in defense of their 
common country. The immense number of ships, now no 
longer wanted by the Government, were disposed of to the 
highest bidders ; all property thus useless was sold, and the 
proceeds appropriated to paying the debt incurred. 

Charleston was evacuated, and tlie Stars and Stripes 
once more floated over the city of nullification and seces- 
sion. The heart of the city had been burned during the j § ' 
bombardment, and " the rebel garrison, when leaving, fired 
the railroiid depots, which fire had spread, and was only 
subdued by our troops after they had reached the city."' 
On the fourth anniversary of the surrender of Fort Sumter 
the veritable flag — tattered and torn — which floated over 
" that fort during the rebel assault" was replaced by Major, 
now Major-General, Robert Anderson with imposing cere- 
monies, and was honored by a salute of one hundred 14. 
national guns "from every fort and rebel battery that fired 
on Fort Sumter."" 

President Johnson issued an amnesty proclamation, in 
which pardon was offered to all who would take an oath of May 
allegiance to the United States, except certain si^eeified 
classes who had held offices in the cause of the rebellion. 

' Sherman's Memoirs, "Vol. II., p. 369. 
Sherman's Memoirs, Vol. II., p. '230. 



966 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

Lxv'' ^^ ^^'^ ^*^^ °^ ^^^^^' ^^^^' ^''^^ President granted pardon 



unconditionally to all who were not at that time under 
■ indictment for treason, and finally, December 25th, he ex- 
tended pardon to all without exception. 

A number of cruisers, among which were the Alabama, 
Florida, and the Georgia, were fitted out in English ship- 
yards to prey on AmericaTi commerce, under the flag of the 
so-called Confederacy — it not having a single j)ort into 
which they could enter. These vessels were more or less 
manned by English seamen under Confederate captains, 
and into whatever port they catered in the British Empire 
they were welcomed, furnished supplies and armaments, 
and permitted to make repairs if needed, and also to enlist 
men if necessary. Tliough the English Government had 
issued a proclamation against the reception and aiding 
these vessels, yet it was a dead letter ; neither did the Gov- 
erument itself make an efiicient effort to enforce the law or 
to punish those who violated it. The Alabama was built 
expressly for this purpose, and was permitted to steam out 
of the Mersey, whence she went to the Azoi-es, and there, 
by appointment, received her full armament of guns and 
stores sent from London. Kapliael Semmes there took 
command, with a crew of 26 officers and 85 men, mostlj' 
Aug. British seamen. She, eluding her pursuers, roamed over 
the ocean for two years, destroying nearly seventy American 
vessels ; storeships from Liverpool, by arrangement, fur- 
nishing her from time to time with war material and pro- 
visions. At lengtli she appeared at Cherbourg in France, 
but the Amei'ican Minister protested so strenuously that 
the French Government gave her permission to obtain coal 
and ])rovisions, but not to use tlie national navy-yard in 
which to be repaired. Meanwhile, Captain John A. Wins- 
June low, of the United States gunboat Kearsarge — lying ia a 
^"- port of Holland — learned that tlie famous cruiser was at 
Cherbourg, and he immediately steamed out and soon 
appeared oil that harbor, watching for the cruiser to put to 
sea. Semmes, finding he could not escape — as the Kear- 



EUSSELL's protest — LOUIS KAPOLEON. 967 

sarge was a swifter vessel than the Alahama, — proclaimed *^^^- 
that lie intended to fight his adversary. 

The Alabama came out of port and the Kearsayc jm,g 
steamed ahead seven miles, to get beyond French jui-is- 19- 
diction, and so far that the Alabama could not get back 
to the neutral line — three miles out — before he could over- 
haul her. At the right time the Kearsage turned and 
made for her antagonist, running at half-speed and only 
firing one gun for her two; coming within close range, her 
guns were shotted with shells of five seconds' fuse. The 
11-inch shells of the Kearsage went through the Alabama's 
starboard and burst in the port side, and between decks, 
with terrific e£Eect. Five Englisli trained gunners were 
put on board the Alabama the evening before the action, 
but they seemed to lose their skill, as the Kearsage wfts 
scarcely injured. In an hour and ten minutes' time the 
Alabama was sinking beyond recovery, and Semmes hauled 
down his colors. A friendly English yacht was near and 
Captain Winslow asked the owner to aid in saving the crew 
of the sinking ship. Semmes was taken on board the 
yacht which slipped away to Southampton, where much 
sympathy was expressed for him and his cause. 

Under date of April 1, 1864, Lord John Eussell, in a 
communication to Jefferson Davis, as President of the 
"so-called Confederacy," protested against his employing -^P"^- 
agents in England to obtain "vessels for war purposes 
against the United States." Had this protest been made 
three years before it might have been of benefit, but it was 
now too late ; tlie mischief was done, and the United 
States government had a record of all the vessels destroyed 
by these English-built craisers, and in due time would 
demand payment for the damage. This fact the English 
authorities had already learned. 

Though Louis Napoleon seems to have been desirous 
in some way to act as mediator to stop the "fratricidal 
strife," and was thought to be unfriendly to the Union, 
because it was a Ke public, yet no Frenchman, as far as 



18(J5. 



968 HISTOKT OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, known, endeuvored to advance his pecuniary interest by 
running tlie blockade, and thus aiding the enemies of the 
Union by furnishing tliem the munitions of war. 

The slavery question came up again, and Congress pro- 
Dec, posed an amendment to the Constitution (Article XIIL), 
by wliich slavery was to be forever abolished tliroughout 
the Union. Tliis was ratified by the States — three-fourths 
of the number voting for its adoption — and became a por- 
1866. tion of the organic law of the land. In order to protect 
!^^' the Freedmen in their new position the Civil Eights Bill 
was passed over President Johnson's veto. 

This year a lawless attempt was made by a society known 
as Fenians wlio wislied to free Ireland from British sway by 
invading Canada. They were driven back after some skir- 
mishing. The President issued a proclamation denouncing 
the enterprise as a violation of neutrality, and cautioning 
all engaged in it to desist. General Meade, who was sent 
to the frontier, soon put an end to the movement. 

Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, a native of Massaoliu- 
setts, then a resident of New York City, in whose univer- 
1844. sity his experiments were first made, gave to the world the 
electric telegraph. It is vain to conjecture the full benefit 
that will accrue to tlie human family from this invention. 
May it be a harbinger of peace, a link to unite the nations 
in a common union of friendship ! The first attempt to 
1857. ].^y .^ cable across the Atlantic ocean succeeded, but for 
some unknown cause it ceased to act after a few sentences 
were transmitted. Nine years afterward another cable was 
1866. l3'<^> the enterprise owing its success to the energy of Cyrus 
W. Field, of New Yoi-k City. Other lines have been laid 
connecting Europe with tlie United States, while others 
have united us with our southern neighbors. Also sound- 
ings have been made from San Francisco to Japan, across 
1874. the Pacific, and a route on the bed of that ocean found 
feasible for laying a cable. 

The reconstruction of the Union — by which the seceding 
States were to be received back — was one of the most 



RECONSTRUCTION — IMPEACHMENT. 969 



1867. 



diflScult questions to settle. Congress and the Presi- c^^- 
dent differed in opinion on tbe subject. Tiie President 
tbonffht it sufficient for tliese States to repeal tbeir ordi- 
nances of secession and rei)ndiiito the debt incurred by tbe 
rebellion, and to ratify simply the amendment to tbe Con- 
stitution abolishing slavery. But Congress wished to give 
the Freedman a fair chance, and to avoid, if possible, .any 
inducement to curtail his rights as a citizen, and to settle 
forever all questions that might grow out of the old system 
of slavery. They proposed another amendment. of the Con- 
stitution (Article XIV.), making it for the interest of the 
State not to curtail the vote of any of its citizens, inasmuch 
as in proportion any class of citizens in a State was denied 
the right of voting, by so much would the representation of 
that State be diminished in Congress. This amendment 
became also a portion of the Constitution. 

The seceded States, under Provisional Governors, held 
conventions and adopted these amendments, and were 
restored to tlieir relations to the Union, and their Senators 
and Representatives were readmitted to their seats in Con- 
gress. The last to come in were the States of North and 
South Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, 
Texas, and Florida. Some of these had been unrepresented 
in Congress for seven years. 

Nebraska was admitted into the Union as a State, mak- 1867. 
ing the thirty-seventh. The same year Alaska was purchased 
from Russia for the sum of $7,300,000 in gold. This im- 
mense jegion of 500,000 square miles is chiefly valuable for 
its fine fisheries, and for seal skins, tbe most important pro- 
duct, and also for its harbors on the Pacific Coast. 

Congress had passed a law entitled tlie Tenure of Office 
Bill, by which the consent of the Senate was necessary to 
the removal from office of any officer whose nomination by 
the President had to be confirmed by that body. The 
President, in violation of this law and during the recess of 
Congress, desired to remove that most efficient officer 
Edwin M. Stanton, tbe Secretary of war, from his position. 



970 HISTOKI OF THE AMEKICAIf PEOPLE, 

CHAP. Great political excitement grew out of these proceedings, 

which resulted in the impeachment of the President, by a 

resolution of the House of Representatives, "for high crimes 
and misdemeanors." His trial ended in his acquittal, as a 
two-thirds vote of the Senate failed, by one vote, to pro- 
nounce him guilty. This is the only instance of a President 
of the United States being impeached. 

An important treaty was made with the Chinese Empire 
by whicli religious toleration was guaranteed to citizens of 
igg8_ the United States residing in China, and tlie same privilege 
was extended to Chinese residents in this country. This 
treaty was followed by an embassy from that empire to the 
United States, which it is hoped will have a most favorable 
influence iipon the policy of that secluded empire. 

In the election for President the Republican party nomi- 
nated for the presidency and vice-presidency General U. S. 
Grant of Illinois, and Schuyler Colfax of Indiana, and the 
Democratic party Horatio Seymour of New York and 
General Francis P. Blair Jr., of Missouri. 1 he former 
were elected and General Grant was inaugurated President 
4th of March 1869. 




• ac-s.coLTonico.N.v 



CHAP TEE LXVI. 

grant's administrations. 

Pacific Railway. — The Fifteenth Amendment. — Death of General Lee. 
— State Rights Influence. — Alabama Claims. — Census of 1870. — 
Election Law. — The Centennial. — Presidential Election. — Influ- 
ences binding the Union. — Conclusion. — Progress. — Agricultural 
Products. — Immigrants. — The Effect of Cheap Lands. — Home- 
stead Settlers. — Public School Funds. — Illiteracy of Stat'::s Com- 
pared. — Newspapers. — Public Libraries. — Art. — Benevolent Associ- 
ations. — Individual Respoasibility. — English Language, Influence 
of. — Christianized Civilization. 

When Ulysses S. Grant entered upon the office of Presi- chap. 
dent the civil war had been concluded about four years ; . L 



the direful effects on the South had been rapidly disappear- 1869- 
ing ; all the States, by means of reconstruction,, were once 4.' 
more under the old flag, and the nation had already en tered 
upon a career of progress untrammeled by the incumbrance 
of slavery to retard advancement and to serve as an irritat- 
ing element, as it liad been for two geuerations. The 
President appointed ex-Governor Hamilton Fish, of New 
York, Secretary of State. 

During this year the Pacific Railroad, extending from 
Omaha, Neb., to San Francisco, 1,913 miles, was finished; 
it supplied the link uniting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 
This was a work of great magnitude — entered upon in time 
of civil war, but pressed to the end by untii'ing energy. 
The United States aided in building this road by liberal 
grants of public lands and otherwise. 

The Fifteenth Amendment, which reads, " The right of 
citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or 
abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account 1870. 
of color or previous condition of servitude," was adopted, g^"^ 
and became the law of the land. This completed the 



1870. 



972 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

LxvF.' amendments to the Constitution deemed necessary for the 
protection of the f reedmen in their new relation as citizens. 
They have manifold difficulties to overcome, but their prog- 
ress in industry and their endeavor to educate themselves 
and their children, and to acquire frugal habits, are the 
cheering features in their case. Too much, unfortunately, 
has been expected of them as citizens. The degradation of 
their previous condition has not produced that self-respect 
so necessary to success in life, and it will take time, and 
botli moral and intellectual improvement, to obliterate the 
effects of such an influence. A feeling of kindness between 
the former masters and the f reedmen is increasing from 
year to year, and as the industries of the late slaveholding 
States increase and their resources develop, the latter, aa 
laborers at least, will doubtless perform tlieir share in this 
general progress. 

1875. -'Now," wrote Vice-President Wilson, "the colored 

race, though little accustomed to habits of economy and 
thrift, 'possess millions of proi)erty, has hundreds of thou- 
sands of ohildrou in schools, has been clothed witli civil 
and political rights, occupies high positions at home, and 
has representatives in Congress." 

1870. General Robert E. Lee died October 12, 1870. He had 

Oct. ^on for himself the resj)ect of the people of the loyal 
States, and was the idol of those of his own section. He 
was a Christian and a gentleman ; reserved in manner, 
but of the kindliest disposition. He was opposed to the 
secession leaders, and had but little respect for their states- 
manship ; looking upon them as only ambitious politicians, 
and tliat the war might have been avoided had it not been 
for that class in both sections. Says he, "I did believe 
at tiie time that it was an unnecessary condition of affairs, 
and might have been avoided if forbearance and wisdom 
had been practiced on botli sides." He wrote, Jan. 6th, 
1861, "1 cannot anticipate so great a calamity to the 
nation as tlie dissolution of the Union." When the war 
was over he accepted the situation, and used his mfluence 



DEATH OF GENEBAL LEE — STATE EIGHTS INFLUENCE. 973 

for the reconciliation of the North and South. He was chap. 

LXIV. 



elected president of Washington College in liis native 
State, in which important and useful office he spent the ^^''^' 
remainder of his life ; and tliere used all his influence to 
direct the young men to become Christians and good 
citizens, and true lovers of the tchole country. A mother 
brought her two sons to enter the college, and in liis 
presence loudly expressed her hatred of the North ; the 
dignified president, interrupting her, said, "Madam, don't 
bring up your sous to detest the United States government. 
Eecollect that we form but one country noui; abandon all 
these local animosities, and make your sons Americans."' 
He foresaw the ruin of his own Virginia in case of a civil 
war, and it was through agonies of spirit that he decided 
to go with her. "My husband has wept tears of blood," 
Mrs. Lee wrote to a friend, "over this terrible war; but he 
must, as a man and a Virginian, share the destiny of his 
State, which has solemnly pronounced for independence."* 
His decision, no doubt, was owing much to the insidious 
influence of the extreme views taken of the doctrine of 
State Eights, which poisoned the minds of many of the 
Southern statesmen of that period to such an extent as to 
cramp their political ideas. They were so much engaged 
in plans of special legislation for their own section and 
"the peculiar institution,'" that their statesmanship was 
dwarfed ; in consequence their views of policy were more 
sectional than national ; never grasping the wliole land in 
its diversities of climate and manifold industries and insti- 
tutions. Governments, in theory at least, have been formed 
to last for all time, and these leaders betrayed their want 
of true statesmanship wlien in their Constitution they 
embodied the doctrine of State Eights to such an extent 
as to provide, in the very organization of their government, 
for its own dissolution — the only instance known to history 
of such inconsistency. 

During the rebellion and at its close the loyal people and 
1 Life of Lee, p. 331. « Life of Lee, p. 31. 



974 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



1870. 



LXvT.' Congress felt keenly indignant that the English rulers 
should have given aid to the Confederates and manifested so 
much sympathy for their cause. " We charged and believed 
that Great Britain and her colonies had been the arsenal, 
the navy-yard, aud the treasury of the Confederacy." But 
"with generous forbearance" the United States Govern- 
ment chose to obtain redress by neg9tiation, and a treaty 
was made, the Earl of Clarendon acting on the part of the 
English Government and Hon. Reverdy Johnson, an emi- 
nent lawyer, acting on the part of the United States. 
Senator Charles Sumner made a scathing analysis of this 
treaty when it came before the Senate for ratification, and 
it was rejected. His argument and the rejection irritated 
the English people exceedingly ; but time and reflection 
revealed to them tliat Sumner's statements were so clear 
and so true that the United States had just reason to com- 
plain of England's lack of good faith as a neutral, and they 
began to sincerely regret there should be differences of an 
unfriendly character between the two nations of all others 
so nearly related, which feeling came now to be reciprocated 
by the people of the United States. 

General Grant, soon after the rejection of the treaty, be- 
came President, and he recommended to Congress to 
appoint a commission to audit the claims of American citi- 
zens on Great Britain for losses by Confederate cruisers 
permitted to leave English ports to prey on American com- 
merce, in order to have them assumed by the government 
itself. Soon after this the English government proposed to 
1871. ^^^^ °^ ''^^^ United States a joint High Commission, to hold 
Jan. its sessions at Washington, to settle some questions in 
respect to boundaries between the two countries. The 
President consented on condition that the Alabama claims, 
so-called, should also be considered. This led to the second 
treaty of Washington (the first in 1842).' Five Commis- 
si sioners were sent by the British Government, men of emi- 
8. nence, who met the same number, of equal character, 

1 Hist., pp. 681-83. 



ENGLISH CRUISERS — TREATY OF WASHINGTON. 975 

appointed by the President. Tins treaty, fi'om the prin- chap. 

ciples involved in its action, is a noble example of '- 

nations settling their controversies by negotiation, and the 
arbitration of justice and reason, rather than by tiie barbar- 
ous arbitrament of the sword. The Commissioners made 
their work complete. By authority of the Queen the Brit- 
ish negotiators expressed " in a friendly spirit the regret 
felt by Her Majesty's Government for the escape, under July 
whatever circumstances, of the Alabama and other vessels" 
— there were eighteen, including tenders — from British ports 
and for depredations committed by them. 

There were in all five different subjects of controversy 
between the two nations, and the treaty arranged that these 
should be submitted to disinterested arbitrators whose 
award both nations were bound by agreement to accept as 
final. The points at issue were the claims of American 
citizens against Great Britain for damages sustained by 
cruisers fitted out in British ports to aid the Confederates 
in making war against the United States, and all claims 
of the citizens of either Government for injuries received 
during the civil war ; also for the regulation of the Atlantic 
coast fisheries of the United States and of the British 
provinces touching on the Atlantic and its estuaries ; and 
for the free navigation of the St. Lawrence and certain 
canals in the Canadian Dominion ; and in the United 
States for the free navigation of Lake Michigan, and also 
for reciprocal free transit across the territory either of the 
United States or of the Canadian Dominion ; and, finally, 
the true boundary between Washington Territory and Brit- 
ish Columbia, which had been postponed to a future time 
by Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton when they nego- 
tiated the first treaty of Washington. 

As long as Lord John Russell, through whose negli- 
gence the Alabarria and other vessels were permitted to 
escape, had charge of the foreign affairs of Great Britain 
no redress could be obtained. Though admitting the 
wrong, he stubbornly refused to make any concession, on 



976 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

LxvF' '''"'^ gfounc] that the "honor of England would not permit 
lier to make any reparation to the United States." 



1871 

All these claims and questions of differences, in accord- 
ance with the treaty of Washington, were to be referred to 
a tribunal of five arbitrators, appointed in the following 
manner : namely, one by the President of the United States 
and one by the Queen of the United Kingdom, with requests 
to the King of Italy, the President of the Swiss Confedera- 
tion, and the Emperor of Brazil each to name an arbitrator. 
The friendly Powers, as requested, designated each an 
arbitrator of eminent abilities and learning. The Queen 
appointed Sir Alexander Cockburn arbitiator and President 
Grant, Charles Francis Adams. Each party employed coun- 
sel : in behalf of the United Kingdom was Sir Roundell 
Palmer aided by two others, and in bc-half of the United 
States the eminent lawyers William M. Evarts, Caleb Cush- 
ing, and Morrison R. Waite — the latter now Chief-Justice 
of the Supreme Court of the United States. 

The arbitrators, in accordance with this arranrjemcnt, 

Ju'ue "^^'' ^y appointment at Geneva in Switzerland, and after a 
15- laborious session in examination ■ — first, whether Great 
Britain failed to fulfill the duties laid down in the treaty 
in respect to preventing vessels leaving English ports to 
enter upon a war against American commerce in the service 
of the so-called Confederacy : and, secondly, to name the 
award which was to be in the gross, and paid in coin twelve 
months after the date of the decision ; the United States 
Government was to examine the claims of its own citizens 
and pay them out of the award — the decision was in the 
following terms : " The tribunal, making use of the authori- 
ty conferred upon it by Article VII. of the treaty of Wash- 

gg J ington, by a majority of four voices to one awards to the 
14. United States the sum of $15,500,000 in gold as the indem- 
nity to be paid by Great Britain to the United States, for 
the satisfaction of all claims referred to the consideration of 
the tribunal.'" The money has been paid, and at this 
1 CusUing on the Treaty of Washington, p. 380. 



THE CENSUS— OENTEXNIAL, 977 

writing the Court to adjust and pay the claims is in chap. 
session. '- 



1874. 



1871. 



The Census of 1870 gave the population of the States ^^^^' 
and Territories of the Union as 38,533,191 ; about 7,000,- 
000 more than that of 1860. This was the most eventful 
decade of our history. Tlie nation since the close of the 
rebellion has exhibited remarkable elasticity, and has beer 
rapidly recovering from the strain of an extraordinarily ex- 
pensive civil war, both in precious lives and treasure. 

Congress passed a law by which, hereafter, all oflScei-s of 
the national Government elected by the people are to be 
chosen on "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in 
November" — to take effect in 1876. 

As the time drew near when the nation would be one 
hundred years old. Congress made arrangements to celebrate 
its Centennial in an appropriate manner, properly selecting 
the city of Philadelphia as the place of the national celebra- 
tion, because in that city was made the Declaration of Mar. 
Independence, July 4, 177G. ' " The act provides for cele- 
brating in a becoming manner the one hundredth anniver- 
sary of American Independence, by holding an International 
Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and products of the soil 
and mines, at Philadelphia, in 1876." Congress authorized 
first a "Commission to consist of not more than one 
delegate from each State and territory, to be appointed by 
the governors thereof, whose duty it shall be to prepare and 
superintend the execution of a plan for holding the Exhi- 
bition, and its general supervision ; they to continue in 
oflBce to the end of the Exhibition ; " and secondly a corpora- 
tion known as "The Centennial Board of Finance," com- 
posed of prominent citizens from each State and Territory 
of the United States, equal in number to twice the number 
of their senators, members, and delegates in Congress. 
The corporation to hold its meetings in Philadelphia. The 
President was authorized to invite the co-operation of 
foreign powers in the celebration. 
iHlst. p. 368. 



978 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



1870. 



OTAP. This invitation was responded to in a most gratifying 
manner, and nearly forty of the civilized nations of the 
earth have been represented in innumerable forms of their 
manufactures and arts, manifesting unusual national 
courtesy and good will ; this it is hoped will become an 
" Era of good feeling" among the nations of the world. 

The circumstances are such as to command attention ;' 
the independent growth of the nation in a brief period of a 
century, the result of its starting on its career with the 
elements of national greatness in abeyance ready to he 
developed as occasion required ; the energy of a people every 
one imbued with the self-respect and self-reliance of an in- 
telligent freeman. 

The buildings of the Exhibition are in Fairmount Park 
and are of immense size, finely arranged for the purpose 
designed. By means of the proper adjustment of glass in iron 
frames, the light is diffused in the most perfect manner. 
The main structure covers an area of twenty acres — the 
same as that of the London Exhibition in 1851 — the other 
bviildings, in all, occupy forty acres more. Tliese are of 
different styles and finished in accordance with each, dis- 
playing much taste, and withal an appropriateness of design. 
The buildings combined cover an area about the same as 
that of both the Great Exhibitions of London and Paris,. 
(1862-7) while they contain ten acres more than the odc at 
Vienna, (1873). This Exposition, it is hoped, will prove to 
be a school for improvement in the mechanical and tasteful 
arts, as here can be seen the finest specimens of man's 
mechanical skill or inventive genius. Every well-wisher of 
human progress — moral and intellectual — will look with 
interest upon the effects of this great gathering of the repre- 
sentatives of the nations of the earth thus commingling, and, 
we trust, in the interest of " peace and good will to men." 

In tlie Presidential election in 1872 President Grant 
1873. ^"^^ the candidate of the Kepublican party, and Horace 
Greeley of the Liberal Republicans and Democratic party. 
The former was elected for a second term. 



CENTENNIAL. 979 

Horace Greeley died on the 2flth of November, 1873. 9^^- 

Born in New Hampshire, the son of a humble farmer in ■ 

very limited circumstances, through many trials he ac- ^^^ 
quired self-reliance. True to himself and his integrity he 
rose by his own energy, and won the respect of his country- 
men. Kind in heart and proverbially benevolent, the 
friend of the oppressed of every land and the unrelenting 
opponent of every system of oppression. At the age of 
fifteen he began as an apprentice in a country printing 
oflSce, and after many changes and trials and disappoint- 
ments he came to the city, and in time founded the New 
York Tribune. Through that medium lie exerted a great 
influence in promoting the cause of temperance, and the 
industrial interests of the land. The death of no American 
private citizen had, hitherto, elicited so much sympathy 
and respect. 

Charles Sumner was born in Massachusetts, and died at 
Washington, March 11, 1874. Sent direct from the people 
to the United States Senate, he remained a member of 
that body for twenty-two years, and in the active duties of 
his position till his death. In varied learning and refined 
taste and mature scholarship he towered above his fellows. 
He maintsiined his influence in the nation by the purity of 
his political character and his commanding intellect, his 
most thorough knowledge of every important subject 
brought before the Senate, and his comprehensive views 
of national policy. Unswerving in opposition to the system 
of slavery and tlie untiring friend of the colored man — 
whether a bondman or a freedman — he labored to remove 
obstructions to his success in life, if he himself chose to 
make the proper exertion as a citizen by industry, and culti- 
vating habits of economy and thrift. 

The nation having just passed through a fearful struggle 
t6 preserve its integrity, the question occurs. Will there 
ever be another attempt to destroy the Union ? No doubt 
questions of national policy will arise in the future, on 
which will be differences of opinion, but never, probably, 



1867. 



980 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAK PEOPLE. 

CHAP, of a class involving principles of morals, of ligb.t and 
justice, wounding the conscience of the people, as was the 
case in respect to the system of slavery. The signs of the 
times indicate that the principles of religious freedom will 
forever secure that perfect toleration in matters of con- 
science so dear to tlie heart of the American people. Our 
system of common schools is destined to bo a great har- 
mouizer of the nation, by preparing the people to become 
more and more intelligent, uniting them by the strong 
bond of the same language and its literature, in contrast 
witli the other nations or empires of the world occupying 
immense areas of territory. The school-books used througli- 
out the land are the same in character. The language 
of the newspaper, the pulpit, the lecture, the myriads of 
books published from year to year, is the same, while it is 
spoken throughout the Union with scarcely a difference of 
intonation, much less amounting to a dialect. 

The continuous changes of residence by emigration from 
one part of the country to another, and tlic facilities of 
ti-avel, bringing together the people of the various sections 
in social intercourse, assimilate their characteristics, while 
the small fraction, comparatively, of the foreign pojuilation 
scarcely affects tlie homogeneity of the nation, for they soon 
affiliate, and their children, taught in the public schools, 
grow up genuine Americans. The numerous railways con- 
necting all portions of the Union, and affording easy com- 
munication for travel or transportation of mercliaTidise, are 
so many bands to hold us together ; while the national 
system of finances have a binding influence by cheapening 
exchange from one section to another, and thus saving an 
immense sum every year to the commercial interests of the 
land. 

The conformation of our territory is suited to be occu- 
pied by one nation alone ; and the very diversities of climate 
with us have a binding influence, inasmucl) as they afford 
us cheaply tlie necessaries of life and many of its luxuries. 
The great valley of the Mississippi, extending north and 



THE COKTINUANCB OF THE UKIOK. 081 

soutli, with its varied climate, will ever be the indispensa- chap. 

ble storehouse of cereals and live stock, furnishing, in - 

exchange for manufactures and merchandise, most of the ^^^^' 
food for the inhabitants of the Atlantic slope, and also for 
the mining regions of the Rocky Mountains ; while the 
States along the South Atlantic and on the Gulf are equally 
as important in furnishing cotton and sugar. These com- 
mon wants will make the people of all sections of the land 
mutually dependent one upon another. Should questions 
of national policy hereafter arise, under such influences 
they will be considered in a conciliatory spirit, and decided 
in the light of truth and justice. 

The rapid and easy communication by means of railways 
from one section of the land to another precludes the dan- 
ger of sectional divisions of territory on account of its 
great extent ; while the telegraph almost brings the listen- 
ing ear of the nation to the halls of Congress to hear the 
discussions of questions of national importance, thus en- 
abling the people to form an intelligent judgment and to 
decide such questions by tlieir vote in the light of jiatriot- 
ism and in the spirit of the Golden Rule. 

The moral influences existing among the various Chris- 
tian denominations of the land serve to unite the whole 
people in sympathy of a purer type and to a greater extent 
than before the civil war, as the greatest obstacle to a genuine 
national Christian fellowship was removed by the extinction 
of slavery, which brooded over the cinirches of the land 
like a moral incubus and precladed perfect unity of Chris- 
tian feeling because of the conflicting views held by Chris- 
tians, both North and South, on the moral character of that 
system. 

Now the various benevolent and Christian institutions 
can have full play ; their power is increasing rapidly from 
year to year, while they are extending their influence and 
helping hand into fields of labor in every section of the 
country, inciting a stronger national interest and brother- 
hood of feeling. Not the least will be the influence for 



982 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 



CHAP, good of that mutual respect which prevails between the 
surviving Union and Confederate soldiers who met in battle 
and tried each other's mettle, and which in due time will 
banish far away bygone prejudices. 



LXVI. 

1876. 



{ 



COKCLUSION. 

This Government, founded on the recognition of the 
civil and religious rights of man, may be regarded as an 
experiment in process of trial, but with the highest hopes 
of success. It is natural that under such a Government 
the people should make progress in literature, in science, 
and in those mechanical arts and inventions tiiat promote 
the comfort and advancement of mankind. 

Let us take a rapid glance at the progress made by this 

youthful nation in the short life of one hundred years. 

Since the Declaration of Independence the number of 

inhabitants, then estimated at three millions, has increased 

more than twelve-fold ; and since the first census (1790) 

the number has increased from 3,939,214 to 38,555,983 — 
1798 
Jo almost ten-fold. In the same period foreign commerce has 

1875. increased in value from twenty to four hundred million 
dollars, while the internal trade has reached more than six 
hundred millions. In connection with this has been a 
steady increase in the facilities of communication and trans- 
port, first by means of steamboats, which now abound upon 

1809. our rivers and great lakes ; by means of canals connecting 
the lakes and the great valley of the Mississippi with the 
Atlantic, and railroads extending to all parts of the land, 

1827. and which have increased to an aggregate length of nearly 
sixty thousand miles, in operation or in process of construc- 
tion, at an expense of three thousand million dollars. 

A steady progress has been made in agiiculture, in 

which a greater number are engaged than in any other 

'employment, as farmers in the Northern and planters in 

the Southern States. As an agricultural product, Indian 

com stands first in value, eight hundred and four million 



1676. 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS — INVENTIONS. 988 

■•'dollars; wheat, three hundred and forty-two; hay, tliree ^-^J"' 

hundred and thirty-seven, and cotton ahout two hundred 

1876 
and fifty millions, and so on "through the list of crops; 

while the cattle numbered twenty-one million, and the 
swine forty-seven. The products of the cotton and woolen *^,^*]?^' 
manufactures amounted respectively to one hundred and 
seventy-seven, and one hundred and fifty-five million dol- 
lars. 

'- The inventive genius of the people has been active in 
'securing the powers of nature in adding to the comforts of 
human life. In implements for cultivating the soil there 
^-have been innumerable improvements, from the simjile hoe 
' "to the steam plough ; and from the primitive sickle and 
scythe to the reaping and mowing machine. As sti'iking 
have been the improvements in the steam engine: in ship- 
building, from the swift sailing clipper to the sharp-prowed 
ocean steamer — copied now by England's steam marine ; 
and in printing-presses, by means of one — Hoe's — thirty 
thousand impressions can be taken in an hour. The sewing 
macliiue, tliat friend of woman, is a purely American in- 
vention, and so is that not less useful machine, the cotton 
gin. Fifteen thousand patents have been taken out in a 
single year at Washington. 
" We have seen the character of the first settlers of this 
land : their intelligence, their zeal in founding institutions 
imbued with the spirit of civil and religious liberty. The 
-time came to welcome another immigration. in 1819 
'•' Congress first directed the collectors of ports to take cog- 
'^'nizanct of the foreigners who arrived in the country, and ^°^^ 
V make returns of tlie same to tlie Secretary of State. That 
immigration, subject to great fluctuations, in one year 
amounted to three hundred and seventy-two thousand. Of ^^"^ 
'•'these the majority had no higher skill than to engage in 
'•"the simplest forms of manual labor. They aided immensely 
'"in the develcnment of the country ; for none but the ener- 
•'getic emigrate to better their condition, and they bring 
'with them that element of cliaracter so valuable. Without 



984 HISTOET OF THE AMEEICAK PEOPLE. 

<;hap. their toil our canals would never have been dug, nor our 

railroads built, nor the improvements in our towns and 

■ cities. Tlicy have received the recompense of their daily 
labor, yet, as a nation, we acknowledge to them our obliga- 
tions. 

Since Lhen, especially during the three last decades, the 
ciiaracter of immigrants from beyond the Atlantic has 
materially changed. As the manufacturing industries of 
the country developed its resources the inducement for 
skilled labor was greatly increased, and a much greater 
proportion of skillful mechanics have come among us to 
become valued citizens, and train tlieir children in our 
common schools to be Americans. The public lands, as 

1863. offered by the Homestead Bill, has brought an immense 
2^y number who have settled upon them as industrious, eco- 
nomical and thrifty farmers, especially in the West and 
Northwest. Intelligent merchants from abroad have aided 
in extending our commerce, and also an increasing number 
of educated men have found here a home and a field of 
usefulness, both as lawyers and physicians, and as ministers 
of the Gospel and professors in our colleges, and teachers 
of our youth. The whole number of immigrants since 1820 
now amounts to about eight millions. 

The cheap lands of the great West offered inducements 
to the enterprising in the older States to emigrate, and 
while tliey leveled the forests or brought the prairies under 
cultivation, the industry of the States they had left was 
stimidated, and. by means of manufactures and commerce 
they supplied the wants of those who had gone West, and 
were themselves benefited in return by exchanging the 
product of their mills and workshojis for cheaper food 
brought from the great valley. 

As reported by the Secretary of the interior, it appears 
that under that beneficent measure the Homestead Bill, 
during the twelve years it has been in operpcion, an area 
greater than that of the five New England States has been 

1875. taken up and occupied as farms by more tton two hundred 



/ 



HOMESTEAD SETTLERS — PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 985 

and seventy five thousand families, and the yearly average 55-^?' 

of area settled under this bill almost equals that of the 

states of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined ; and, in ' 
addition, an average of about one-third as much area has 
been yearly sold by the national Government to settlers, who 
preferred to purchase their farms in certain localities, 
especially along railroads ; besides the amount sold by rail- 
way corporations from lands granted them by the Govern- 
ment in aid of the construction of such roads. 

Tims can bo seen a vast array of peaceful warriors, their 
front extending from South to North, nearly one thousand 
miles, steadily marching West, and by the ax and the 
ploughshare subduing the forest, the fertile valleys and 
plains ; advanced divisions have taken position on the shores 
of the Pacific, while a line of posts keeps up communication 
with the main force. 

The youth of the land have not been forgotten. Public 
schools,' having their origin in Massachusetts, have become 16*7. 
the heritage of all the States. At convenient points. Con- 
gress has set apart a liberal portion of the jiublio lands for 
the special support of the common schools in the new States 
and territories. The older States, meanwhile, have been 
making laudable exertions to increase their school funds. 
The number of pupils in academies, and in the public and i87e. 
private schools, is nearly seven millions ; and in colleges, 
theological seminaries, medical and law schools, the students 
number more than twenty thousand. The Census of 1860 
shows for that year the general education of the people, and 
also reveals the causes why it was not more universal — the 
influx of those of foreign birth who were illiterate, and the 
system of slavery ; in the slave States foreigners were com- 
paratively few in number. Wheu, for convenience, we 
compare Virginia with New England, the latter having 
about three times the white population of the former, we 
find, in these five States, that of persons over twenty years 
of age, only one of the native born in five hundred and 
1 Hist. pp. 81-82. 



986 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, twenty was unable to read and write ; while in Virginia, of 
the same class there was one in fifteen. Of the illiterates in 



1876 

New England about fifteen-sixteenths were foreigners ; in 
Virginia they were about one-twenty-fifth. Of the entire 
population of the free States of the Old Thirteen, one iuone 
liundred and forty one was unable to read and write ; of the 
whites in the corresponding slave States, there was one in 
tiventy-one. Of tlie illiterates of the same free States, eZ«i'«w- 
fourteenths were foreigners, and in the corresponding slave 
States they were only one-twenty -second part. In the free 
States admitted after tlie Revolution, there was found one 
illiterate in forty-nine of the population ; in the corre- 
sponding slave States one in twenty : in the tormcvone-tJiird 
of this class were foreigners, in the latter, one-fourteenth. 

Of these two impediments to a universal education, one 
has disappeared ; and the other is diminisliing rapidly, as 
the numerous immigrants, especially from Northern 
Europe and Germany, are superior in respect to their 
education to those of former times. If no young man, 
when becoming of age, was permitted to vote unless he 
could read and write, we should have in less than a score of 
years a nation in wliich there would scarcely be an illiterate 
voter. In these days of free schools, the young man who 
has not suflBcient mental power to learn to read and write 
should be sot aside on the score of imbecility; and if he has 
the power and not the will much more is he derelict of 
duty, and unworthy to exercise the privilege. 

In no respect has the mental energy of the nation mani- 
fested itself so much as in the encouragement given to the 
public press. The common schools taught the youth to 
read ; the innate desire of acquiring knowledge was fostered, 
and the fascinating newspaper, as it statedly enters the 
domestic circle, reflects the world and records the progress 
of tlie ago. By this means the most retired can be brought 
into sympathy with the world, in its yearnings after excel- 
lence, peace, and happiness. 

At the commencement of the Eevolution there were but 



1876. 



NEWSPAPERS — LIBRARIES. 987 

thii'ty-five newspapers, and they of a very limited circula- chap. 
tion; now, of all classes, there are about seven thousand. 
The population since that time has increased twelve-fold, 
while the newspapers have increased two hundred-fold. 
Educated and accomplished minds discuss in their columns 
the important questions of tiie time, und upon these ques- 
'tions the nation acts; thence they pass into history. If 
the issues of tiie press are kept pure, the blessing in all its 
greatness far transcends mortal ken. Public opinion has 
been termed a tyrant; but it is a tyrant that, if vicious, 
can be made virtuous— can be reformed if not dethroned. 
Let the virtue and the intelligence of the nation see to it 
that it is a righteous tyrant, and submission to its iron rule 
will become a blessing. 

In intimate connection with this intellectual progress is 
the increase of public libraries, found in so many of our 
cities. There are now more than ten thousand, and they 
contain about eight million volumes. These storehouses of 
knowledge are as diversified as the wants of the people. 
Among them are found the Sunday-school libraries, each 
with its few hundred volumes; the social or circulating 
libiaries, in almost every village or large town, and the 
numerous private as well as public libraries, containing 
much of the current literature of the day. An important 
feature was introduced at the formation of the public library 
in New York City bearing the name of its founder, John 
Jacob Astor, and since increased by his son. It is designed 
to furnish standard works on the varied subjects of useful 
human knowledge — an armory for the practical student, 
througli whom the influence is to reach those who cannot 
personally avail themselves of its treasures. 

In the departments of human knowledge and literature 
we have names that are held in honor wherever the English 
language is read : in History, Prescott, Bancroft, Hildreth, 
and Motley ; in Systematic Theology, Dr. Timothy Dwight, 
whose works have had a great influence in this country and 
in England, and Professor Charles Hodge ; in Mental Phi- 



988 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, losophy, Jonathan Edwards ; in Biblical Literature, Edward 

Kobinson ; in Poetry. Bryant, Longfellow, and Whittier; 

■ iu Light Literature, Irving, Cooper, and Hawthorne ; in 
Lexicography. Noah Webster ; in Mathematics, Bo wd itch — 
many other eminent names might be added. 

In art we have those who have esliibited evidence of 
genius that may yet give the nation a name honored among 
those eminent in painting and sculpture. Her sons have 
not been surrounded by models from great masters to 
awaken in early life the slumbering genius, nor have they 
been encouraged by a traditionary reverence arnong the 
people for such manifestations of talent. It has been in 
the face of these disadvantages that they have reached their 
present high position, not by passing through a training 
laborious and preparatory, but almost at a bound. 

We rejoice to see the great body of the people associating 
themselves for purposes of doing good or for self-imijrove- 
ment. There are iu the land many religious and benevo- 
lent associations. Of the latter class is the Temperance 
movement, promoted greatly by the eloquence of Dr. 
Lyman Beecher, and which has had an immense influence 
for good upon the nation. The moral 2>hase of the subject 
has taken deep hold of the minds and conscience of the 
people, and in the end the cause must prevail. There is 
also no more cheering sign of the times than tlie people 
themselves becoming more and more acquainted with their 
civil rights and duties, and in their demanding virtue and 
political integrity in those who serve them in a public 
capacity, and, when there is a dereliction of duty, their, 
promptly appealing to the ballot-box. 

Governments had hitherto interfered more or less with 
the liberty of conscience. They assumed that in some 
way — though indefinable — they were responsible for the 
salvation of the souls of their subjects. Free inquiry and 
a knowledge of the truths of the Bible, and the separation 
of Church and State, shifted that responsibility to the 
individual himself, and in consequence it became hisrecog- 



INDIVIDUAL EESPONSIBILITT — BENEVOLENT BEQUEST?. 989 

nized duty to support schools of learning and sustain relig- chap. 

ious institutions. This change in the minds of the people 

commenced in tlie great awakening' under Jonathan Ed- 
wards, and its influence had full effect in the separation of 
Church and State after the Kevolution." To this principle 
of individual responsibility may be traced the voluntary 
support and the existence of the various benevolent opera- 
tions of our own day, in which all the religious denomina- 
tions participate. These in their efforts are not limited to 
the destitute portions of our own country, but in many 
foreign lands may be found the American missionary, a 
devoted teacher of Christianity and its humanizing civiliza- 
tion, supported and encouraged by the enlightened benevo- 
lence of his own countrymen. The same principle pro- 
duces fruits in founding asylums for the purpose of reliev- 
ing human suffering and distress, or smoothing the pathway 
of the unfortunate. The men of wealth in our day more 
fully appreciate their responsibility, and the mental energy 
exercised in its accumulation has more than in former times 
been consecrated to doing good. Millions have thus been 
given by individuals to found or aid institutions of learn- 
ing, that the youth may be secured to virtue and intelli- 
gence — a blessed influence that will increase in power from 
age to age. 

We inherit the English language and its glorious asso- 
ciations — the language of a free Gospel, free speech, and a 
free press. Its literature, imbued witli the principles of 
liberty, civil and religious, and of correct morals, belongs 
to us. We claim the worthies of the mother country whose 
writings have done so ranch to promote sound morality with 
no less gratitude and jaride than we do those of our own 
land. The commerce of the world is virtually in the hands 
of those speaking the English language. On the coasts of 
Asia, of Africa, in Australia, in the isles of the Pacific it 
has taken foothold — may it be the means of disseminating 

> Hiat., p. 233. s Hist., p. 525. 



990 • HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 

CHAP, truth and carrying to tlie ends of the earth the blessings of 

'- Christianity. 

1876. rpjjg nltitnate success of this Government and the stabil- 

ity of its institutions, its progress in aU that can make a 
nation honored, depend upon its adherence to the princi- 
ples of truth and righteousness. Let the part we are to 
perform in the world be not the subjugation of others to 
our sway by physical force, bat the noble destiny to subdue 
by the influence and the diffusion of a Christianized civili- 
zation. 



THE END. 



IKDEX. 



Atienakis, 201 ; war with, 212 
Aberuroml.ie, General, Oil 
Abo'.iiiou, ">ts HOI 
Abori;jiues, 7-10 

Acaflie'nrS'; expatriation, ^248 

^n"ice''°p1-esidfn,,"^iTfp."^iaent; 

547-054; death, 667 . 
^^-"^'S'Q^u^:;er6i5?P-irnt, 

Ahasistan. 1H8, 200 

Alabama claims, 9i5-u 

Alamo, The, 086 

Alaska purchased, 96» 

Alien Act, 550 

Algerinc pirates, M& 

Algiers, Ppy of'J^l 

Alaonqnms. 9, 199 

AUen, Ethan, 318, 338, 339 

Alloupz, 202 ^ „ „.„ ^, 

Amherst, Lord Jeffrey, 25., 261 

Ampudia, General, 699, .0,,nJ 

Anderson, Robert. Major, 811, 819, »3», 

90S 
Andre, Major, 4 1 .-4,9 
Andros, Sir Edmond, 178, 1.9 
Annapolis Conyention, 519 
Antietam, battle, 893-896 
Appalachecs,149 
Archdale, Johii, 147 
Arista, General, 099, 703 
ArkwriKht, Sir Bu-hard, 533 
Armed Neutrahty, 4^3 

Armstrong, Gen.. Tobn,2=n,fl^, sec. 

Arn''o'ld%^eS!?!V,m^.^^^^ 
408- Behmus's Heights, 434; trea- 
son, 476-479, 488, 503 

Ashburton, Lord, 680, 6S5 - » -. 
Assembly, Legislative, The first, 55^ 
Associations, non-importation, i)^ 

293, 298, 309 
Astor Library, 987 
Atlanta, iron-clad taken, 9Z5 

citv taken, 940 
Augustine, St., 32. 149, 164, 648 

Austin, Moses. 685 
Averill, Col.. 878,948 
Ayllon, Vasquez de, 13 

Banon. Nathaniel,,105-107 
Bainhridee, Captain, 557, 888 
Balboa, Nunez de^ 
Baltimore, Lord, 99, lOU 



I Ball's Bluff, disaster, MO 
Bancroft, Georue, 5t), .i78, 737, asi 
Bank of North America, 500 

United States, 632, li42, 663 

Banks, Gen. N. P., 880, 823, 934 
' Barre. Colonel, 287 

Barti-am, 279 

Beauniarchais, 412 ^^ 

Beauregard, P. G. T., 818, 859, 861, »4B 

Beeeher, Dr. Lyman, 988 

Belmont, battle ot, b44 

Benevolent operations, 800, H»i 

Bennington, battle, 431 

Benton, Thomas H, 698, 1.7 ,», -Qa 

Berkeley, Sir William, 102, 103, im-iuo, 

Bible Society formed, 612 
Big Bethel, 829 
Bills of credit, 442 
Bladensburg, battle, 625 
Blair, Rev. Janies, 110 
Blair, Frank P., 625,9,0 
Blockade, 828; raised, 905 
I Blue Lick, battle, 510 

i ErnLtar*.?rd''e'eV^-«ecti^ Ameri- 

Boone, Dani«^V,ro"^,A'" 
E^s^^'„'77%5;^^^irBill,301;evaeua- 

ted, .355 
Bouquet, General, ZiX 
Boyston, Dr., 194 „.„ 

Brdddock, General, 235^240 
Bradford, William, b6, ,1, «i 
Bradstreet, Sanon- -„^ 

Brandywine. battle, 4^ 

Bree'Sli«e;fc..«)5«i5,838,953 
Brewster, William, 64, 65 

rofn,rn';:^'ifobT^«« 

dent, 7152, 810 
Buckner, Gen., «»!% .^ 
Buell, Gen., ?«.*;*' S?28' 
Buena Vista, battle, a6-.-» 
Buford,N. B.,Gen.845 

l"untnn?'"bl?tle'?*831-«3..; 2d hattl«. 
Ko7n^;Ge'n^™t'^.«3;surrend. 
I BurkI; ground, 293. 410. 429 



992 



INDEX. 



Burnside, A. E. Gen., 8&1; in com- 
mand, Sur, 930 
Burr, Aaron, 554, 559-661 
Burroughs, George, l'J2 
Butler, B. F., tes, 829, 841, 862, 944, 945 

Cabot, John, 15 

Sobastien, 16, 17 
Calef, Robert, 19B 
Caldwell, Rev. James, 470 
Calhoun, John C, 578 ; V. President, 

651, 1)64, 666; Sec. of State, 690, 

696, 7i'4 ; death, 778 
Cavin, John, 378 
Camden, battle, 474 
Canada, invasion of, 590, 618 
Capitol The, burned, 626 
Carleton, Sir Guy, 340, 369, 388, 511 
Canonicus, 71, 79, 86 
Carolina, 30, 141 
Caroline affair, 681 
Caron, Father le, 196 
Carroll, John, bishop, 525 
Cartier, James, 18-21 
Carver, John, 63, 67 
Cass, Lewis, 587, 769 < 

Catawbas, 153 
Catholic Church, 525 
Census, 555, 575, 794, 977, 983 
Centennial, 977-78 
Cerro Gordo, battle, 750 
Charabersburg burned, 948 
Chami>lain, Samuel, 35, 36 
Chapultepec taken, 763 
Chancellor's Battle, 9U9, 911 
Charities, 799 
Charters, colonial, 46, 51, 91, 133, 143, 

157, 168 
Charleston, 144, 150 : taken, 469, 965 
Chase, Salmon P., 817 
Chattanooga, 939, 933 
Chaunces', Captain, 590 
Cherokees, 152: war with, 366, 656; 

removal of, 662 
Chesapeake, aiEfair of, 566: capture 

of, 601 
Chickahominy, 881 
Chiekamauga, battle, 929 
Chicbasaws. 35, 318 
Chihuahua tiiken, 743 
Chinese policy, effects, 569 
Chippewa, battle, 618 
Choctaws, 159, 217 
Christianized civilization, 530, 990 
Church ol England, 59, 104, 111, 141, 151 
Episcopal, 178, 179, 524 
and State, separation of, 535, 

989 
Congregational, 534, 536 
Methodist, 534 
Presbyterian, 525 
Churubusco, battle, 758 
Cincinnati Society, 515 
Claims against France, 671 
Clarke, George Rogers, 464 
Clarke and licwis's explorations, 696 
Clay, Gen. Green, 600 
Clay, Henry, 578, 581, 616, 651, 776; 

death, 784 
Clayborne, William, 99, 101 
Clayton, John M., 667, 771 
Clinton, De Witt, 656 

George, 335, 373, 515, 539 ; i 

Vice Pres., 559 I 



Clinton, Sir Henry, 337, 332. 353, 43& 

448, 453, 40U, 463, 408, 498, 508 
Clouds, battle above, 931 
Cobb, Howell, 826 
Cockburn, Sir Alex., 976 
Coddington, William, 81 
Coercion, 808, 810, 817 
Coke, Thomas, bishop, 534 
Cold Harbor, battle, 884 
Coligny, 29, 34 

Colleges, 91, 110, 186, 234, 250, 279, 294 
Colonization Society, 645 
Columbia burned, 961 
Columbus, Christopher, 3-6 
Common sense, 366 
Common schools, 91, 376 
Commerce, increase of, 561 
Commissioners, British, 449 

of peace, 511-615 
of customs, 303, 616 
Company, London, 46, 98 

Plymouth, .58, 75 
Dutch E. India, 114 
Compromises, constitutional, 531 
Missouri, 648, 651 
of Texas, 1833, 667 
of 18.50, 779 
Concord and Lexington, battle, 314 
Congress, Stamp Act, 291 

old Continental, 307 
the second " 3SJ 
Provincial, Mass., 313 
Connecticut colony, 81 : emigration 

to, 88, 168 
Constitution, federal, 521 ; amend- 
ments to, 969, 970; powers of in 
the territories, 774, 7*5 
Constitution, Confederiite, 815, 973; 
Conscription, Confederate, 879; debt, 

908 
Constitutions, colonial, 00, 67, 88; 

contrast, of States, 797-801 
Convention, Democratic, 895, 805 
Disunion, 781 
Republican, 796 
Conway, Cabal, 414 
Cook, Col. Edw., M3 
Cooper, Sir Ashley, 112 
Cooper, J. Fenniniore, 988 
Corinth evacuated, 867 
Cortez, 13 
Cornwallis, Lord, .S73, 385, 397, 474,490; 

at Yorktown, 498, 505 
Cowpens, battle, 489 
Craven, Governor, 153 
Creeks, 152, 151, 159, 609, 656 
Crockett, Davy, 687 
Crown Point, 348, 33:1 
Cruisers, French, 519; and EnirUsh, 

56:3, 573 
Cruisers, American, 345, 465 

Confederate, 966 
Cuba, 782, 781 
Culpepper, 109 
Curtis, Gen. S. R., 856 
Gushing, Caleb, 976 



Dahcotahs or Sioux, 9, 208 
Dalgren, Admiral, 934 
Dallas, George M., 6U3 
Dauburv burned, 106 
Daniel, Father, 197, 201 
Dartmouth College, 294 
Davenport, Rev. John, 88 



I 



INDEX. 



993 



Davis, Jefflerson, 718, 722 ; senator, 777, 

815, 824, SJ'J ; t^puoUll uloS3aK£', ^7 ; 

inaugiiratfd, SUK, '.en, iMU; Uia-Lit, 

'JaJ: capture, '.nil, 9ii,' 
Daris, Cape. J. E., smi 
Beane, Silas, 4V4 
Bearboni, Gen. Henry, StlO, 607 
Decatur, Stepheu, 55i^, till 
Declaratiou of riylits, 2yi, :!09 

ludepeudeiice, Meeh- 
leuburg, 322 
Declaration of ludopendence by Con- 
gress, 368 
of war opposed, 584 
Decrees affecting- American coaj- 

mttrce, &&, ai,S, .573 
Delaware, Lord, .53 
Uelawares, Christian, massacre of, 509 
D'Estainu-, Count, 4.52, 453, 402 
De Joinvlile, Prince, 888 
Deposits, removid of, 668 
De Vries, 116, 118-120 
Deserot, 781 

Dictatorsliip, Washington, 396, 424 
Diesliau, 24ii. 250 
Dinwid:iie, Gov., 227, 229, 251 
Dissenters, 141, 144, 148, 313 
Disunion convention, 775, 781 
Donop, Count, -380, 426 
Doniphan's E.xpedition, 741 
Dorr, Thomas W., 092 
Dover destroyed, 209 
Doubleday, Gen., 820, 915 
Douglas, 8. A., 805 
Dralie, Sir Francis, 41, 43 
Dreuilettcs, Father, 301 
Drummoud, William, 107, 106, 1-12 
Dudley, Thomas, 75, 76 

.Joseph, 177, 180, 181 
Duchfe, Kev. Jacob, 308 
Dunbar, Colonel, 236, 241 
Dunmore, Lord, 330, 352 
Dupont, Commodore, 811, 93t, 925 
Dustiu, Hannah, 213 
Duties imposed, 395 
Dwitfht, Timothy, OS- 
Early, General, 916, 946, 949, 957 
Ecclesiastical organizations, 523-526 
Edwariis, Jonathan, 223, 988 
Eliot, John, 93 
Elizabeth, Queen, 60 
Ellet's ram.s, 860 
Ellsworth, Colonel, 826 
Embargo, under Washington, 540 
Jefferson, 5B8 
Madison, 583 
Emigration, 801, 983 : West, to the, 964 
Endicott, John. 75, &4 " 
English enterprise, 37 ; pluck, 484 

language, 989 
Enterprise, Amei-ican, 533 
Episcopal chuich, .523 
Era in human progress, 539 
Erskiue's negotiations, 571 
Eutaw Springs, battle, 497 
Evarts, Wm. M., <.m 
Ewell, Gen., 913, 916, 960 
E.vploring E.xpedition, 684 

Fair O.aks, battle of, 881 

Farragut, Admiral, 862, 950 

Federal Union, 324 

Federalist, tbe, 522 

Fedei-alist and anti-Federalist, 537 



Ferguson, Colonel, 479 

Fieltl, Cyrus W., 968 

Filirni.re Millard, 778, 7S3 

i'luancial disorders, 642, 652, 809 

Fish, Hamilton, 971 

Fiteh, John, 643 

t ive Forks, battle of, 958 

Fletcher, Henjamin, 13?, 185, 287 

Florida, 13, 22; purchased, 648; a 

State, 692 
Foote's resolutions, debate, 66;J 
Foote, Admiral, A. H., 849, 857 ; death, 

866 
Fort Donelson, R51 

Frontenac, 327 

Niagara, 237 

Du Quesue, 232, 260 

Necessity, 233 

Edward. 348 

Henry, 849 

Hindman taken, 905 
Fort PilJciw Massjiere, 934 
Fort William Henry, 203 
France, relations with, 547-.553 
Franklin, Ueigamin, 139,23,5,251,279, 

393, 323, 378, 412, .511, 521 
Fr.anklin, Sir John, 783 
Fredericksburg, Battle of, 897 
Free Masonry, 6.58 
Fremont, John C, 7E3, 7Si, 744, 745, 

793, SVi, 880 
Frencli Pa.stors' Address, 936 
Freueau, Philip, .540 
Frolic, the, taken, 596 
Frontenac, 209 
J'ugitive slave law, 779, S07 
Fulton, Robert, 643 

Gage, General, 237, 297, 305, 312, 328, 333 

Gallatin, Albert, .542, 599, 015 

Garnet, General, 830 

Gaspe, revenue vessel, 300 

Gates, Horatio, 241 ; sketch, 360, 389, 

434; in the South, 473 
Georgia, 156-166, 446; subdued, 483; 

Indian lands in, 656, 663 
Genet's mission, .5.^9, 540 
Geruiantown, battle, 424 
Germans in the colonies, IK, 13G, 159, 

317 
Gerry, Elbridgc, .520, 548 
Gettysburg, battle, 914-920 
Gilbert, Sir Himiphrev, 38 
Gilmore, Q. A., General, 934, 943 
Gist, Christopher. 2'26, ;31 
Gloyer, Colonel, 376, 377 
Goffe, 167, 173 
Gold discovered, 767 
Gorges, Sir Ferdinand, 89 
Gosnold, Bartliolomew, 57 
Gourges, Dominic de, 34 
GratTenried de, 152 
Grand Model, the, 143 
Grant, Colonel, 259, 268 
Dr., 687 
tr. S., General, 8.38, 844, 8.50. 859, 

801,904; Lieutenant-General, 934, 

964 ; President, 971, 974 
Grasse, Count de, 498, 5(«, .505, 5C8 
Greeley, Horace, 978, 979 
Green Mountain Boys, 319 
Greene, Nathaniel, General, 336. a58. 

431, 447 ; in the south, 483, 491, 494 
Gridley, Colonel, 318, 328 
Grlerson, Colonel, 924 



994 



IKDEX. 



Grundy, Felix, 579 
Guerriere captured, 595 
' Gunboate. Juffersou's, 5iJ3, 5G4 

Hale, Niitlian, 379 

Halluek, General, 837, 800, 889, 914, 942 

Hamiltu]), Aloxtinder.aoti, 504, 530,531, 

537; death, 5ti0 
Hamilton, Andrew, 187 
Hamlin, Hannibal, 804 
Hampton, Wcide, 901 
Himooek, Jolni, U97, 313, 324, 354, 453 

General, 877, 944 
Hand, Colonel, 373, 397 
Hanson, Alexander, 586 
Harmcr, General, 534 
Harris, Isham G., 824 
Harrison, William Henry, 576, 599: 

Prt'Sident, ti77 
Harnshnr^JT Convention, 658 
Harper'o Ferry, 823, 831, 893 
Hartford Convention, 630 
Harvard Co:ieg(.s 91 
Harvey, Sir John, 98, 101 
Haslet, Colonel, 374, 400 
Hatteras cai>tured, 841 
Hawkins, Sir John, 31 
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 988 
Hayne, Isaac, 496 

Robert Y., 663 
Haynes, John, 83 
Heath, General, 316, 379, 380 
Heintzi?lman, General, 875, 877, 882 
Heister de. General, 374 
Hemy VIII., 58 

Patrick, 285, 289, 308, 220 
Herkimer, General, 430, 431 
Hessians, hired, 340, 415 
Hiawatha, 199 

Hill, D. H., General, 883, 887, 894, 915 
■^ilton Head captured, 842 
flobkirk's Hill, battle, 495 
Hodge, Charles, Professor, 987 
Homestead Bill, settlers under, 984 
Hood, 933-940, 952-953 
Hooker, J., General, 877, 894, 908, 912, 
931 
Rev. Thomas, 83, 85 
Horseshoe, battle, 610 
Houston, Samuel, 088, 689 
Howard, O. O., General, 910, 939 
Howe, Admiral, the, 369, 424, 452, 4.54 
Sir William, 262, 327, 3G9, 378, 

381,413,420, 4:;2, 423, 448 
Robert, General, 456 
Hudson, Henry, 112-114 
Huguenots in the south, 29-34; in 

Canada, 35, 145 
Hull, Isaac, Captain, 595 

William, General, 686, 587 
Hunter, General, 947, 9(8 
Hurons, 197, 199, 202 
Hutchinson, Anne, 80, 81 

Governor, 299, 302 

D'Ibtierville, Lemoine, 215, 216 
Illiteracy compared, 985 
Immigrants, skilled, 894 
Impressment, Ifritish, 564, .583, 588, 6.S3 
Incidents, 103, 1C8, 120, 158, KM, 377, 595, 

611 
Indented servants, IM, 110, 408 
Independence, question of, 364, 368 
Indians, divisions of, 9 ; see names of 

tribes. 



Indians, efforts to convert, 93, 101, 123. 

176, 663 
Indiana, State, 643 
Indigo, 282 

Individual responsibility, 988 
Influence, men of, 181 

of the Dutch, 127 
Influences, religious, 2r3-27'6, 365, 981 
Inoculation, 19i 

Internal improvements, 502, 656 
Inventions, *J83 
Iowa a State, 698 
Irving, Washington, 988 
Isabella, Queen, 3, 5 
Island No. 10, 867 

Jack, Captain, 236 

Jackson, Andrew, 608, 610, 633, 647; 

President, 661-072 
Jackson, C. P., 825, 8:>4 

T. J. (Stonewall), STl, 880; 
death, 910 
James I., 45, 46. 61, 03. 97 

II. 177, S08. 
Jamestown, 47 ; burned, 107 
Jasper, Sergeant, 362 
Java, the, taken, 596 
Jay., John, 809, 611 ; Chief Justice, 531 ; 

Mission, 543 
Jefferson, Thomas, 32.3. 367, 533 ; Sec. 
of State, 531, .537 ; V. P., 540; Pres- 
ident, 555-570 ; death, 657 
Jesuits, 35, 197, 202, 212 • 
Jogues, Father, 200 
JoEuson, Andrew, 808 : President, 9G3 ; 
amuestv, 905; impeached, 969 
Sir William, 2:i5, 248, 331 

John, 362, 480 
Colonel Rich, iyi.,603; V.P., 
672 
Johnson, Eevcrdy, 974 
Johnston, J. E., General, 831 922: su- 
persedes Bragg, 933, 936-938 ; sur- 
renders, 961-9ti2. 
Johnston, Sidney A., General, 850,859, 

861 
Joliet, Father, 203 
Jones, John Paul, 465 

Kaib, Baron de, 411, 419, 471, 475 
Kane. Dr. E. K., 78.3 
Kansas, affairs in, 790, 814 
Kearney, General, 744, 758, 892 
Kearsarge and Alabama. 968 
Kentucky, iieutraliiv, 825 
Kieft, WiUiara. 117-:'22 
King's Mountain, battle, 481 
Klttanning destroyed, 251 
Knowlton, Colonel, SJO, 381. 
Knox, Henry, 347, 356, 393, 515; Sec. of 

War, 5.30 
Knyfjhausen, General, 432, 470 
Kosciusko, Thaddeus, 419, 492 

Lafayette, Marquis de, 418, 450, 503; 

visit of, 653 
Lake Champlain, action on, 622 
Erie, " 619 

Lander, General, 874 
Lane, James H., General, 718, 764 

Ralph, 40, 41 
La Salle, 2IM-200 
Laurens, Henry, 322, 484, 611 
Lawrence, James. Captain, 601 
Lawrence, Massacre, 933 



INDEX. 



995 



Lecompton Convention, 793 
Ledyard, the traveler, 8 

Cokiuel, 51)3 
Lee, Arthur, 412 

Loe, Charles, General, 358, 333, 331, 386, 
'i'M ; treason, 448 ; death, 45:3 
Henry, Genei-al, 446, 462, 4',i3, 553, 

Richard Henry, 285, 307. 309, 367 
Robert K., General, 837, 882, 890, 
893-8ati, 91U, 014-920, 943, 94(1, 
957; surreniiers, 960 ; death, 972 

Leisler, Jacob, 182-185 

Leon, Juan Ponce de, 12 

Levant and Cyane captured, 640 

Lexington and Concord, battle, 314 

Libraries, 987 

Lincoln, iJuiijamin, General, 313, 435, 
456,459,462,467,501,569 
Ahra'^am, 804, 803, 806, 814 : 
inaugural, 816, 818; the call, 
821; plan of campaign, 868; 
retains SIcDowell, 874, 876: 
emancipation, 901-906; 2im 
inauguration, 956 ; death, 
96.2 

L'Insurgente, frigate, captured, 552 

Little Belt, affair of, 575 

Livingstou, llohert E., 323, 367, 556, 
643 
WiUiam, 290, 307 

Lloyd, Senator, 582 

Locke, John, 142. 

Long Island, battle, 373-377 

Longfellow, H W., 98S 

i,ongstreet. General, 914,917,931,944; 

Lopez, General, 782 

Loss on Union side, 964 

Louisburg taken, 220; again, 2.57 

Loudon, Lord, 252, 255 

Louisiana, 205 ; purchased, 558 

Lyman, General, 248 

Lyon, N., 825, 8.34, 836 

Lyttleton, Lord, 267 

Lundy's Lane, battle of, 620 

Lutherans, 136, 140, 159, 162 

Madison, James. 522; Sec. of State, 

566; President, 671, 579, 583, .598, 

615, 624. 629, 639, 643. 
Macedonian taken, .596 
Macdonough, Commodore, 622 
Magruder, General, 875, 885, 888 
Magazine, first American, 140 
Magaw, Colonel, 384 
Malvern Hill battle. 886 
Mani fosto of the British government, 

014 
Manufacttires, colonial, restrictions 

on, 148, 168, 282 
Manufactures, domestic, 63.3, 655, 658, 

769. 907 
Mansfield, General, 8% 
Jlarcy, William L., 738, 752, 753 
Marion, General Francis, 472, 495 
Marquette, James, :.'03, 204 
Marshall, John, 548, 530, 663; death 
670 
Colonel Humphrey, 717 
Maryland, 100, 102 ; troubles, HI, 277 
Mason, George, 298, 521 

Captain John, 86, 87 
J. M., 843 
Massachusetts, 74, 90, 168, 220, 615, 628, 

632 



Massasoit, 70, 71, 176 
Matamoras occupied, 704 
Material Progress, 799 
Mather, Cotton, 189-194 

Increase, 188 
May, Colonel, 702, 723 
Mahew, Thoma.-^, 94 
Meade, Geo. S., General, 9U, 914-920, 

9.38, 968 
Mechlenburg declaration, 323 
Megapolensis, Uomine, 122, 200 
Mcigs, Colonel, 407, 6U0 
Merimi'C and Monitor duel, 868-871 
McClellan, G. B., 8l'4, 8:jO, 839, 876, 890, 

893 ; removed, SU6, 949, ; candidate, 

958 
McClernand. General. 849, 905, 981 
McCook, Colonel. tMii, 861, 90;j 
McCrea. Jennv, 429 
MoCulloch, Major, T1.5, f;U. 856 
ilcDowell, General, 8i'7, 8:^S 
McHenry, Fort, defended, 627 
Mcpherson. General, 939 
Meleiidez, Pedro, •■13, Si 
Mercer, General Hugh. 371, 398 

Fort, defended. 406 
Mesilla Valley purchased. ^86 
Methodist Episcopal Church, 162, 634, 

800 
Miftlin. Thomas, 321, :J70, 517 ; Gov., 642 
Miantonomoh, 85, 86 
Mill Spring, battle of, 846 
Minuits Peter, 11.5, Ki 
Mitchell, O. M., General, 862, 899 
Mississippi, 25, 203 
Missions, Jesuit, 35, 158, 201, 202, 208 

Spanish, 149 
Missionary Societies formed, 592 
Missouri Compromise, 648-651 
Mobile, taken, 4S0 
Mobiiian tribes, 9 
Mohawks, or Huron-Ironuois, 9, 117, 

119, 199, 208, .3*4, 414 
Mohegans, 84, 118, 121 
Monongahela, battle, 387 

first settlers oti, 541 
Molino del Eey, battle, 760 
Monmouth, battle, 450 
Monroe, James, 394, .547, .565; Sec. of 

State, 607 ; President, 644-654 
Monroe doctrine. 652 
Monterey captured, 706 
Montcalm, 253, 254, 258 ; death. 265 
Montgomery, Richard, 339,-342 
Mouts, Sieur de, 85 
Morality, laws enjoining, 56, 1.35, 275 
Moravians, 161, 164, .509 
Morgan, Daniel, .■i36,:148. 420, 484, ''.fS 

J. H., raid, 924 
Mormons, 779-781 
Morris, Gouverneur, 540 

Robert, 500 
Morse, Samuel F. B..96a 
Moultrie, Fort, 361 
Muhlenburg, Colonel, 4IM 

Rev. H. M.. 140 
Murfrecsboro, battle, M3-904 

Narragansets, 169, 174 
Nashville, 405 ; occupied, 853 
Natchez, 217, 218 
National Bank, 532 

debts assumed, 5S2 

Bank, 642 

flag, 409 



996 



INDEX. 



Naval efforts, »4o, its 
Navy, tLe, 4W, 545, 662, 593 
WoK 1 department of, 530 
SP':'''*'V^ bill, 787 : the Stlte, MS 
Nelson, Governor, 5M 
Newspapers, 7!)a, 8u«, 988 
Newark burned, 608 
Newbern captured, 855 
New Amsterdam, 115, i-M 
York City, 113, 114, 674 
York province, 187 
Netherkind, 115, 126 
Sweden, 124 
Jersev, 128 
Haven, 88 
IVanee, 196 
Orleans, 217: battle, a3o; cap- 
^ tured, 863-865 ' '^ 

liigrhts. 2-Si, 286 
London burned, 503 
Madrid captured, 857 
Nicholson, Francis, 156, 182 
Nipmur-ks, i?2, 175 
Noil-ci)er<-inn, 808 
Norfolk liiirned, :352 
North, Lord, 299, 301, MJ, 511 
NuUiflcation, 666 

O'Ri-ien. Captain, TOO, 735 
OsIrtli()i|ie. 156-166 
Ohi.p Cinripanv, 225 

State of,' 536 
Old Lia-hts, 2-Si 
Opechanuanoiijfh, 96, 97, 10;J 
Orders in Council, .581, 588 
Ordinauee of 1787, 522 
Oregon, boundary, 696-698 

«'™i|ration to, 732; State of, 
Otis, James, 284, 296 

Pacific Railway, 971 
Packenham, General. 635, 637 
Palmer, Sir Roundel, 976 
Palo Alto, battle, 700 
Parker, Sir Peter, 361 
^Parliament, measures of, 346 
Parris, bamuel, 190-194 
Patroons, 116 
Patterson, General, 831 
Pea Ridg-e, battle of, R56 
Peace Paity, 912 
Peace rumors, 6.38 

pi'IP'^'^w'!?' •'■ ^- General, 901, 921-33 
Peuu, William, 131-139 291 

136^' P^^j".- ^?' settlers, German, 
136, Presbyterian, 1S8; Western; 

Peppercll, William, 220 

Pe.juods. war with, 84-«8 

ferry. Commodore, 787 
O. H., 602 

Personal Liberty bills. 80r 

PetersburjT taken, 959 

Philadelphia, 1.34; taken, 424 
Pill ip s, Kina-, war, 169-175 
PhiHips, General, 414, 489 
Phipps, Sir William, 191, 211 
Pickett, (J-ncral. :il8 
Pierce, Franklin, T.TIj, 786 
Pirrnin.^ in Holland, 63-64 
Pilt'iim FalluM-s, llli 
Pintkncy, Cliaili.s C, ,W7 



Pittsburg, 260, 270 

Pizarro.'w^'"''""^- ^^"'e of, &59-M 
Platf.jiuis ot- parties, 795, 855 
j lc-asoi,t,,n. Gen, 851 
lorahontas, 49. 52,54 
Pollard, 932, 960 

m^m''^ ^■' ''"^^ P'-e.sident, 693. 

''°'l9>SY^f^7'"*°P-*^'=°- ^ 
Pontiac, 269-273 

Pope, John, Gen, 857, 865, 889-93 
Porter, Captain, 611 

D. D Admiral, 863, 921, 934 
p„,..i f "z John, Gen., 884, 886 
Portland burned, 345 
Port Hudson taken, 9:i3 
Position of nttairs, 9*5 
Powhatan, 4;l, 49 

pI.i'-';"H'-''?' **ectional, .348, 371, 977 

"^"s^nTiSi' ^"•'- ^=«- ^"- ^« 

Sfesidont, frigate, taken, 640 
Piescott, Coh.nel William, 338, 381 

Gen"M;l, capture of, 416 

HLstuiian, 987 



151, 



i-itt, William, 336, 393, 310 



Press, the, 91, 103, lai, 177, 797 

liberty of, vindicated, 187 
increase, 986 

Preston, Captain, 398 

Price, Sterling:, 834, 901, 951 

Princeton, battle, .397 

Prisoners of war, 402, 5U 

Pi-evost, Sir George, .599, 631 

Provost, Bishop, feg 

Pulaski, Count, 419, 433, 463 

Puritans, 60, 103, 168 

Putnam, Israel, 348, 317, 330, 374, 403 

Qiialters, 93, 130, 136, 147, 37i) 
Quebec Act, :304 "■-'•' 

'^""""leii, 31), 263. 366. 341 
Queenston n attacked, 690 
Qumcy, Jiishili. 39S 

Josiah, jr 5S3 
Quitman, John, General, 707 

Raisin River, battle, .199 
R'ihlinh.ucl-.i'.rj.m 

Ran;is!;;i^'^^^;^^;ii:'y,''eath,43 

John. .580 
Kawdon, Lord, 495, 496 
Reeonstnicrion of States, 968 
Reed Ad.)inant-ii,.neral, .392, 39« 
KedRiver Exp., »:« 
Keforination, the, 27 28 
Representatives, House of 78r, 

^ tion in, 521, 63^ ,S?R„3''''P"'''«°^ 

Renoh l"^'' ^°"*^ American. 64fi 

Kepublican parties, 5:38, 792 fm 

Repudiation, 676 

Rosaea de la Palma, battle, 702 

Re\ere. Paul, .303, 315 

Revival, great, 223 
Revo t of soldiers, 486 
Revolution, war of, 311-612 
„ , . French, 5m 

Reynolds, General, 913 
Rice 1.« »1, 91, 92, 168, 691 

Richmond, 879, taken, 9.59 
Kmsffold, Major, 701 



INJJEX. 



997 



Riots at Raltimore, 586 
New York, 92o 
Rivinjftou's Gazette, 350 
Roberval, Lord of, a), 21 
Robertsou, James, 4t>4 
Robinson, Rev. Joiiii, 61, 64 
Ewd., Pi-ot., U68 
Hocliambeau, Count de, 472, SOO 
RodKers, Captain, 574 
Roseerans, General, S30, 837, flOl, 903, 951 
Ross, Genei-al Robert, 623, 627 
Russell, Lord Joliu, 553; protest, 967; 

neglig:ence, 975 
Rulledjse, Edward, 378 

Sabbath, the, 135, SMI, 275 

Sainoset, 70 

Sanitary Commission, 878, 945 

Santa Anna, 685, 688, 71U, 714, 716-728, 

71i), 754, 764 
Santa Fe taken, 739 
San Jacinto, battle, 688 
Saratoga, the surrender, 437 
Sassacus, 8(i, 87 
Savannah, 158, 4<i2 ; taken, iMl 
Sayle, William, 144 
Schenectady burned, 310 
Schofleld, General, 952 
Schools, lil, 104, 135, 276, 278, 798, 985 
Schuyler, Peter, 214 

General Philip, 83:5, 337, 339, 

360, 40S, (Hi, 428, 431 
Scott, Lieutenant-General Winfleld, 

591,617, ii62; Mexican War, 7U5, 713. 

746, 755. 826, 840 
Sears, Robert, 321, 350 
Sedgwick. General, 910, 944 
Seniinoles, 150; war with, M6, 070 
Seward, W. H.. 817, 827, 968 
Shawnees, 199, 227 
Shay's rebellion, 518 
Sheridan, General PhiUp, 901, 945 ; his 

ride, 949, 957 
Sherlock, Dishop, 285 
Sherman, Roger, XT 
T. W., 811 
Wm. T., 845, 905, 922, 932, 

936-941. 961, 963 
Shingis, 230, 251 
Shiloii, battle of. 860 
Sickles, General D., 917 
Siarel, Franz, S35, 856, 891, 910 
Silk culture, 157, 101 
Siou.x or Dahcotahs, 9, 202 
Slater, Samuel. 5.31 
Slave law, fugitive. 779 

rejiresentation, 521, 631, 802 

trade, 309, 366, 367, .523, (183 

Slavery in the colonies, 90, 125, 146, 

161, 166, 278, 281 
Slavery in tlie territories, 522, 649, 773, 

775, 777, 788 
Slavery, discussion on, 772, 778 
Slaves in British army, 614 

the liopes, 9tt2 
Slidell, John. 84:5 
Slocum, General, 884,918 
Sloughter, Colonel Henry, 183, IM 
Smith, John, 47-52, 58 
Joseph, 779 

General Kirhy, 900, 903 
Smugglers, English, 16^^ 
Society for propagating the Gospel 

in foreign parts, 1.51, 159 
Soldiers, colored, 933, 927 



Soto, De, 22-36 

Sons of Liberty, 290, 321 

Squanto, .58, 70 

St. Clair, General, 403, 414-416 ; defeat, 

535 
St. Leger, General, 430 
Steele, General; Little Rock taken, 

ma 

Specie Circular, 674 

Speculation, 673, 074, 676 

Stamp Act, 288, 293 

Standisii, Miles, 66, 72 

Stanton, E. M., 848, 969 

SUirk, John, 248, 317, 330, 393; Ben- 
nington, 4.32 

State Department, ai6 

State Riglits influence, 973 

Stephenson, Fort, defended, 600 

Stephens, A. H., 8(8, 815, 868 

Steuben, Baron de, 446, 498 
' Stirling, Lord, General, 375 
I Stockton, Commodore, 737 
I Stonington bombarded, 628 

Stonenian, General, 911, 964 

Stony Point taken, 461 

Stoughton, William, 178, 191-194 

Stringham, ( 'ominodore, 841 

Stuart, J. E. B., raid, 886, 896, 910; 
death, t;45 

Stuyvesant, Peter, 122-126 

Susquehunnas, 100, 105 

Sub-Treasury, 675 

Suffrage, qualification. 988 

SuUivan, General John, 313, 358, 373, 
391, 421, 453, 4.58 

Sumner, Charles, 974, 979 

General, 882, 887, 895 

Sumter, General, 473 

Fort, 811, 819 ; the Old J-lag, 
965 

Talleyrand, 649, 551 

Taney, Roger B., 669 

Tai-ifls, 532, 642, C58, 659, 660, 665, 667, 

769, 907 
Tarleton, Colonel, 468, 489 
Taxes, parliamentary, 283, 287, 296; 

nati<mal, 907 
Taylor, Zacharv, 570; Mexican war, 

695, 699, 702, 706, 71:1; President, 

7n, 778 
Tea taxed, 295, 301 ; destroyed, 303 
Teeumseh, 575, Clio, 6|;3 
Telegrajih, the. 968 
Tempei-ance Movement, 988 
Tenuent, liev. William, 224 
Territory, North-west, .5^'3 
Texas annexation, 684-601 
Thames, battle, 603 
Thanksgiving day, 72 
Thomas, Genera!, 336,365,359 
Thomas, Geo. H. Gen., 846, 800, 929, 

952 
Thomson, Charles, 307 
Ticonderoga taken 319 and 415 
Tippecanoe, battle, 577 
Toleration, 103 
Tompkins, Daniel D., 543 
Tories, 299, !J]4, 518 
Trade, oolonisl, 110; restrictions, 146, 

168, 177, 281 
Treasury Depardnent, 3.57, .530 
Treaties with England, .512; Jay's, 

544 ; at Ghent, 638 ; at Washington, 

682,974 



INDEX. 



Treaties with Spain, 545, 648 
Algiers, 645, 641 
Clima, 97U 
Mexico, 7U7 
Japan, 787 

Ottoman empire, 673 
Indians, 5(iG, 612 

Trent ntfair, 84a 

Trenton, battle, 393 

Triit, N. P., couimissioner, 753, 7(iO, 767 

Truxion, Capt. 553 

Tryon, Governor, 350, 405, 460 

Tuscarora.^, 153, 153 

Tyler, John, 678-693 

tineas, 80, 133, 169 

United colonies of New England, 90 
Tbirteen, 344 
States, 368 

Unior Fla;;, 349 
Union continuanco of, 979-983 
Union loss, 9Jl 
Union men, 807 

Vallev For?e, 410 
Vail Buren, M utin, 673-676 
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 843 
Van Dorn, Gen., Kiti, 901, 905 
Vane, Harry, 78, 80, 167 
Vaudreuil, 314, 33S 
Vera Cruz taken, 747 
Verrazzani, 17, 18 
Vespucci, Amoriifo, 
Vicksburg- taken, 931 93-J 
Viffilanco As-30uiation, SIO 
Vii-ffinia. 40, 4">, 96 
Volunteers; Jloxican Wai', 705 

Wadsworth, Gen.. 914 
Waiti!, Morriso!! R., 976 
Waldron, Major, 3U9 
Walker, Robert J., 793 
Walloons, first settlers on Long Is- 
land, 115 
Wampanoaits, 169. 173 
Waiusutta, death of, 170 
Warren. Dr. Joseph, 314, .333 
War dt'riared against England, .584 

Dpparfment, 3.57 
Wars with Eng-Lmd, .584-643 

Ensrland and Spain, 149, 163, 164 
Wars, Kin? George's, 319 

Indian, 84-83, 97, 103, 105, 117- 
133, 169-175, .534. 646, 670 
Wars of the Revolution, 311-513 
Tripoli. .557 
Kinar William's, 308 
Washington, Fort, taken, 384 

George, vouth, 337-329, 
330, 333, 2:W, 36:1; commander-in- 
chief, 3i5, 337, 3-)5, ;«). 383, 385, 393- 
398, 413, 431, 43.3, 451, 466, ,500, 515 ; 
retirement, .517, 530; President, 
537-546; death, 553 



Washington, John, 105 

Colonel William, 490, 495 
City pillaged, 636 
Wayne, Anthony, 404, 423; Stony 

Point, 461 ; 499, 536 
Webster, Daniil, 613, 629, 664; Sec. of 

State, 680, 774 ; death, 784 
Noah, 988 
Wesley, John and Charles, 161, 163 
Wetherlord, the chief, C09, 610 
Wheeloek, Kev. E., 294 
Whigs, 399 

Whiskey Insurrection, 541-,543 
Whitefleid, George, 162, 230, 234 
White Plains, battle, 382 
Whitney, Eli, 656 
Whittier, J. G.,988 
Wilderness, battles of, 943. 944 
Wilkinson, James, General, 390, 605, 

607, 617 
Wilkes, Chas. Capt., C84, M3 
Williamsburgh, battle of, 877 
William III., 136, 180 
Williams, Eunice, 213 

Colonel E., 249, 250 
O. H.. 491 
Eoger, 78, 79, 85, 91, 175 
College, 592 
Wilmot Proviso, 773 
WiLson, Gen., 946 
Wilson, Henry, 972 
Wilson'.s Creek, battle of, SSi 
Winchester, Gen., 599 
Winder, General, 623-625 
Winslow, Edward, 66, 69, 71, 79 
Wintlirop, John, 76 

John, jr., 168 
Wise, Rev. John, 179 
Witchcraft, Salem, 188-194 
Witherepoon, Dr. 307 
Wolfe, James, 257, 26.3-265 
Wool, John E., 591, 7C6, 717, 713, 738, 

840 
Wooster, General, 339, 4C8 
Wort.h, William J., 700, 709, 713, 749, 

757, 761 
Writs of Assistance, 283 
Wyoming, ruin of, 454 ; revenged, 458 



Tamasees. 152, 154 

Yearaans, Sir John, 14.3, 146 

Yeardlev, George, 55, 98 

York, taken, 606 

Yorktown, siege of, 50.3-505 ; 2(J siege, 

875 
Youthful Nation, 529 
Yulee's letter, 813 



Zenger, John Peter, 187 
Zollicoffer, Gen, 846 



APPEITDIX. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



We the People of the United States, in order to form a more per- 
fect tluiou, establish Justice, insure douiestic Tranquillity, pro- 
vide for the <»mmon defense, promote the general Welfare, 
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Pos- 
terity, do ordain and establish this Consiitution for the 
United States of America. 

ARTICLE L 

Section. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of 
a Senate and House of Rejiresentatives. 

Section. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed 
of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several 
States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications 
requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State 
Legislature. 

No Pei'son shall be a Representative who shall not have at- 
tained to the Age of tweuty-five Years, and been seven Years a 
Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be 
an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among 
the several States which may be included within this Union, 
according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined 
by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those 
bound to Service for a Term of years, and excluding Indians not 
taxed, three-Ufths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration 
shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the 
Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term 
of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The 
Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; 
and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New 
Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, 
New York sL\, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware 



1002 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

one, Maryland six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five, South Caro- 
lina five, and Georgia three. 

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, 
the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to 
nil such Vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall ehuse their Speaker and 
other officers ; and shall have the sole Power of impeachment. 

Section. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed 
of two Senators from each State, chosen by tlie Legislature thereof, 
for six years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of 
the first Election, they sliall be divided as equally as may be into 
three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be 
vacated at tlie Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class 
at the Ex.iiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the 
Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one-third may be chosen 
every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or 
otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, tlie 
Executive thereof may make temporary Appointnients until the 
next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Va- 
cancies. 

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to 
the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant 
of that State for which be shall be chosen. 

The Vice-President of the LTnited States shall be President of 
the Senate. liut shall have uo Vote, unless they be equally divided. 

The Senate shall ehuse their other Officers, and also a President 
jiro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice-President, or when he 
shall exercise the Office of President of the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole Pov. er to try all Impeachments. 
When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirma- 
tion. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief 
Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without 
the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present. 

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further 
than to removal from Office, and Disqualification to hold and 
enjoy any Office of honour, Ti-ust or Profit under tlie United 
States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and 
subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, accord- 
ing to Law. 

Section. 4. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections 
for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State 
by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by 
Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the places of 
chusing Senators. 

Tho Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and 



APPENDIX. 1003 

such Meeting shall bo ou the first Mondayln December, unless they 
shall by Law appoint a different Day. 

Section. 5. Eaoh Hovise shall be the Judge of the Elections, 
Returns and Qualiiicatious of its own Members, and a Majuiity of 
each sliall constitute a Quorum to do Busiue.-s ; but a smaller Num- 
ber may adjouru from day to day, and may be authorized to com- 
pel the Attendance of absent Meml)ers, in such manner, and under 
such penalties, as each House may provide. 

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish 
its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence 
of two thirds, expsl a Member. 

Each House shall lieep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from 
time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their 
Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Mem- 
bers of either House ou any question shall, at the Desire of one 
fifth of those Present be entered ou the Journal. 

Neither House, during the Session Of Congress, shall, -without 
the Consent of the otlier, adjourn for more than thiee days, nor to 
any other Place than that iu which the two Houses sliall be sitting. 

Section. 6. The Senators and Representatives sliall receive a 
Compensation tor their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and 
paid out of the Treasuiy of the United States. They shall in all 
Cases, except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the X'eace, be privi- 
leged from Arrest during their Atteud-.ince at the Session of their 
respective Houses, and in going to and retui'uiug from the same; 
and for any Speech or Debate in eitlier House, they shall not be 
questioned in any other Place. 

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which 
he was elected, be aiipointed to any civil Office under the authority 
of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emolu- 
ments wliereof shall liave been encreased during suoli time; and 
no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a 
Member of either House during his Continuance in OfHce. 

Section. 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the 
House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur 
with Amendments as ou other Bills. 

JEvery Bill which shall have passed the House of Representa- 
tives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a Law, he presented 
to the President of the United States; tf he approve he shall sign 
it, but if not he shall return it, with his Ob.iections to that House 
in whicli it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at 
large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such 
Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the 
Bill, it sliall )je sent, together with the objections, to the other 
House, by which it sliall likewise he reconsidered, and if approved 
by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all 
such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas 



1004 COKSTITUTIOSr OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against 
the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. 
If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days 
(Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the 
Same shall be a law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which 
Case it shall not be a Law. 

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of 
the Senate aud House of Representatives may be necessary (except 
on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to tlie President 
of the United States; aud before the Same shall take Effect, shall 
be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be re- 
passed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a 
Bill. 

Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power 

To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts aud Excises, to pay 
the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Wel- 
fare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall 
be uniform throughout the United States; 

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States ; 

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, aud among the 
several States, and with the Indian Tribes; 

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform 
Laws on tho rabjectof Bankruptcies throughout the United States; 

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, 
and fix the Standard of Weight.-; and Measures ; 

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities 
and current Coin of the United States; 

To establish Post Oflices and post Roads; 

To promote the progress of Science and useful Arts, by secur- 
ing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right 
to their respective Writings and Discoveries ; 

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; 

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the 
high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; 

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and 
make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water ; 

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money 
to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years ; 

To provide aud maintain a Navy; 

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the 
land and naval Forces ; 

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of 
the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions ; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, 
and for governing such Part of them as may be eanployed in the 



APPENDIX. 1005 

Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, 
the Appointment of the Officers, and the authority of training the 
Militia auconiiug to the Discipline prescribed by Congress; 

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases wbatsoever, 
over such District (not exceeding tea miles square) as may, by 
Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, be- 
come the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to ex- 
ercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of 
the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the 
Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, Dock-Yards, and other 
needful Buildings ;— And 

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other 
Powers vested by this Constitution in the Goverumeut of the 
United States, or in auy Department or OfBcer thereof. 

Section. 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as 
auy of I lie States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall 
not be proliibited by the Cougn^ss prior to tlie Year one thousand 
eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or Duty may be imposed on 
such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person. 

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Coriins shall not be sus- 
pended, unless when in Cases of Eebellion or Invasion the public 
Safety may require it. 

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. 

No CapiDation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Pro- 
portion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be 
taken. 

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any 
State. 

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce 
or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor 
shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, 
clear, or pay Duties in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Conse- 
quence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement 
and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money 
shall be published from time to time. 

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: 
And no Person holding any OiHce of Profit or Trust under them, 
shall, without the cousent of the Congress, accept of av.y present, 
Emolument, Ofiiee, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, 
Prince, or foreign State. 

Section. 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or 
Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; 
emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a 
Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any bill of Attainder, ex post 



1006 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

facto Law, or Law impaiiing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant 
any Title of Nobility. 

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any 
Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be 
absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws : and. the 
net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State ou Im- 
ports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United 
States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Eevision antt 
Controul of the Congress. 

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any 
Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, 
enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, oi' 
with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, 
or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of Delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

Section. 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President 
of the United States of America. He shall hold his Oiilce during 
the Terra of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, 
chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows 

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature 
thereof may direct, a Number of Electoi's, equal to the whole 
Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may 
be entitled in the Congress: but uo Senator or Representative, or 
Person holliug an Office of Trust or Proflt under the United States, 
shall be appointed an Elector. 

[* The Electors shall meet in their respective Slates, and vote 
l)y Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an 
luhabi.'aut of the same State with themselves. And they shall make 
a List o£ all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for 
each; which List they shall sign and certify, an(? transmit sealed 
to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the 
President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the 
Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all 
the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person 
having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if 
such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors ap- 
pointed; and If there be more than one who have such Majority, 
and have an equal Number of Votes, tlien the House of Representa- 
tives shall immediately chuse Viy Ballot one of them for President; 
and if uo Person have a Majority, tlien from the five highest on the 
List the said House shall in like JIanner chuse the President. But 
in chusing tlie President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the 
Representation from each State having one Vote; A Quorum for 



♦This clatise within IjriickPts has been superseded and annulled by the 
Xllth amendment, on page 1013. 



APPENDIX. 1007 

this Pnrpose ahall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds 
of the States, aud a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to 
a Choice. lu every Case, after the Choice of the President, the 
Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall 
be Vice President. But if tlieie sliould remain two or more who 
have equal Votes, the Senate shall cliuse from them by Ballot the 
Vice President.] 

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, 
aud the Day on which they phall give their Votes ; which Day shall 
be the same throughout the United States. 

No Person except a natural bora Citizen, or a Citizen of the 
United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, 
shall be eligible to the OfBoe of President; neither shall any Per- 
son be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the 
Age of thirty-Uve years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within 
the United States. 

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his 
D.eath, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and 
Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice Presi- 
dent, aud the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Re- 
moval, Death, Resignation, or Inability, both of the President and 
Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, 
and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be re- 
moved, or a President shall be elected. 

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a 
Compensation, which shall neither be eucreased nor diminished 
during tlie Period for which he shall have been elected, aud he 
shall not receive within that Pei'iod any other Emolument from 
the United States, or any of them. 

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the 
following Oath or Affirmation :— 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute 
the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of 
my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the 
United States." 

Section. 3. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the 
Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the 
several States, when called into the actual Service of the United 
States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the princiiial 
Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject 
relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, aud he shall have 
Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the 
United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. 

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of i 
the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators 
present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Ad- 
vice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other 



1008 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all 
other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not 
herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by 
Law : but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such 
inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in 
the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. 

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that 
may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Com- 
missions which shall expire at the End.of their next Session. 

Section. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress 
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their 
Consideration such Measui-es as he shall judge necessary and expe- 
dient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, 
or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, 
with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them 
to such Time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive Ambassa- 
dors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws 
be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the officers of the 
United States. 

Section. 4. The President, Vice President, and all civil Officers 
of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeach- 
ment for, and Conviction of. Treason, Bribery, or other high 
Crimes and Misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE in. 

Section. 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be 
vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the 
Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, 
both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices 
during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their 
Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during 
their Continuance in Office. 

Section. 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law 
and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United 
States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Au- 
thority ; — to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers, 
and Consuls;— to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdic- 
tion; — to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; 
— to Controversies between two or more States;— between a State 
and a Citizen of another State ;— between Citizens of different 
State?, — between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under 
Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens 
thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. 

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and 
Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme 
Couii: shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases be- 



APPENDIX. 1009 

fore mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdics- 
tion, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under 
such Regulations as the Congress shall make. 

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall 
be tay Jury ; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the 
said Crimes shall have been committed ; but when not committed 
within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the 
Congress may by Law have directed. 

Section. 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist 
only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, 
giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of 
Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same 
overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. 

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of 
Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of 
Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Section. 1. Full Faith and Credit shall he given in each State 
to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every 
other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the 
Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be 
proved, and the Effect thereof. 

Section. 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all 
Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. 

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other 
Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and he found in another State, 
shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from 
which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having 
Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the 
Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any 
Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or 
Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom 
such Service or Labour may be due. 

Section. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into 
this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within 
the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by 
the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the 
(;;onsent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of 
the Congress. 

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all 
needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other 
Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Con- 
stitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any claims of the 
United States, or of any particular State. 



1010 COisSTITUTIOX OF THE UlTITED STATES. 

Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State 
in this Union a, Republican Form of Government, and shall protect 
each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legisla- 
ture, or of the Executive (when tlie Legislature cauuot be con- 
vened) against domestic Violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem 
it necessary, shall propose Anieudmeuts to this Constitution, or, on 
tile Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several 
States, shall call a Convention for jiroposing Amendments, which, 
in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of 
this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths 
of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, 
as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by 
the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may lie made 
prior to the Tear one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in 
any Manner affect the first and fourth (Clauses in the Ninth Section 
of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be 
deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, bsfore 
the Adoption of this Conslitution, shall be as valid against the 
United States under this C'onstitution, as under the Confederation. 

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States whicli 
shall be made in Pursur.nce thereof; and all Treaties made, or 
which shall be made, under the aul hority of the United States, shall 
be the supreme Law of the Land ; and the Judges in every State 
shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of 
any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. 

The Senators r.n 1 Representatives before mentioned, and the 
Members of the several State Le.gislatures, and all executive and 
judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, 
shall be boimd by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitu- 
tion ; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Quallflcatiou 
to any Office or public Trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be 
sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the 
States so ratifying the Same. 



APPENDIX, 1011 



ARTICLES IN ADDITION' TO, AND AMENDMENT OF, 
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
AMEBIC A. 

Proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several 
States, pursuant to the fifth article of the original Constitution. 

(ARTICLE I.) 

Congress shall make no law respecting au establishment of re- 
ligion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the 
fj-eedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people 
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a re- 
dress of grievances. 

(ARTICLE II.) 

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a 
free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not 
be infringed. 

(ARTICLE III.) 

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, 
without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
manner to be pi'escribed by law. 

(ARTICLE lY.) 

The right of tlie people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against imreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated, and no Warrants sliall issue, but upon prob- 
able cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly de- 
scribing the place f o be searched, and the persons or things to be 
seized. 

(ARTICLE V.) 

No person shull be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand 
Jury, except in casca arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 
Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; 
nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice 
put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any 
Criminal Case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of 
life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall 



1012 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

private property be taken for public use, without just compensa- 
tion. 

(ARTICLE VI.) 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial, by au impartial Jury of the State and 
district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which dis- 
trict shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be in- 
formed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted 
with the witnesses against him; to have Compulsory process for 
obtaining Witnesses in his favour, and to have the Assistance of 
Counsel for his defence. 

(ARTICLE VII.) 

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, 
and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any 
Court of the United States than according to the rules of the com- 
mon law. 

(ARTICLE vrn.) 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im- 
posed, nor cruel and imusual punishments iutUcted. 

(ARTICLE IX.) 
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
people. 

(ARTICLE X.) 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitu- 
tion, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States 
respectively, or to the people. 

(ARTICLE XI.) 

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed 
to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted 
against one of the United States l)y Citizens of another State, or 
by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. 

(ARTICLE XII.) 
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vo*^e by 
ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, 
shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves ; they 
shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and 
in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they, 
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and 



APPENDIX. 1013 

of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of 
votes foi- each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit 
sealed to the seat of tl>e government of the United States, directed 
to the President of the Senate;— The President of the Senate shall, 
in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all 
the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; — The person 
having the greatest number of votes for President, shall l)e the 
President, if such number shall be a majoi-ity of the whole number 
of Electors api^olnted ; and if no person have such majority, then 
from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three 
on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Repre- 
sentatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But 
in choosing the President, the votes sliall be taken by states, the 
representation from each state having one vote ; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-tliirds of 
the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a 
choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a Presi- 
dent whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before 
the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President 
shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitu- 
tional disability of the President. The person having the greatest 
number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if 
such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors ap- 
pointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two 
highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice- 
President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of 
the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole num- 
ber shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally 
ineligible to the ofiice of President shall be eligible to that of Vice- 
President of the United States. 

(ARTICLE xm.) 
1865. 
1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a pun- 
ishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
victed shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to 
their jurisdiction. 

3. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- 
priate legislation. 

(ARTICLE XIV.) 
1868. 
Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall 
make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or im- 
munities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any State de- 



1014 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

prive auy person of life, liberty, or property, without due process 
of law, nor deuy to any person within its jurisdiction the equal 
protection of the laws. 

Section. 3. Representatives shall be apportioned among the 
several States according to their respective numbers, counting the 
whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not 
taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice 
of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, 
representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of 
a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any 
of the male inhabitants of such State, being tweuty-oiie years of 
age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, 
except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of 
representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which 
the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number 
of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Section. 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in 
Congress, or elector of President or Vice-President, or hold any 
office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any 
State, who having previously taken an oath as a member of Con- 
gress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any 
State legislature, or as an executive or judicial offieer of any State, 
to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged 
in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or com- 
fort to the enemies thereof; but Congress may, l)y a vote of two- 
thirds of each house, remove such disability. 

Section, i. The validity of the public debt of the United 
States, recognized by law, including debts incurred for payment 
of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection 
or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United 
States nor any State shall assume or pay any del)t or obligation 
incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United 
States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave ; but 
all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and 
void. 

Section. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by ap- 
propriate legislation, the provisions of this article. 

(ARTICLE XV.) 

i'8ro. 

Section. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any 
State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Section. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 



APPENDIX. 1015 

PRESIDENTS OP THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, 
From 1774 to 1788. 



Peyton RandolpU Virgiuia September 5, 1774. 

Henry Middleton South Carolina October 22, 1774. 

Peyton Randolph Virginia May 10, 1775. 

John Hancock Massachusetts May 24, 1775. 

Henry Laiu-ens South Carolina November 1, 1777. 

John Jay New York December 10, 1778. 

Samuel Huntington Connecticut September 28, 1770. 

Thomas McKean Delaware July 10, 1781. 

John Hanson Maryland November 5, 1781. 

Elias Boudinot New Jersey November 4, 1782. 

Thomas Mifflin Pennsylvania November 3, 1783. 

Richard Henry Lee Virginia November 30, 1784. 

Nathaniel Gorham Massachusetts June 6, 178G. 

Arthur St. Clair Pennsylvania February 2, 1787. 

Cyrus Grifilu Virginia January 22, 1788. 



American Independence declared July 4, 1776. 



Abticubs of Confederation adopted July 9, 1778. 



CHIEF JUSTICES OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME 
COURT, 1789-1876. 



John Jay New York September 26, 1789. 

John Rutledge South Carolina July 1,1795. 

(Ratification refused by the Senate.) 
William Cushing Massachusetts January 27, 179G. 

(Appointment declined.) 

Oliver Ellsworth Connecticut March 4,1796. 

John Jay New York December 19, 1800. 

(Appointment declined.) 

John Marshall Virginia January 31, 1801. 

Roger B. Taney Maryland December 28, 1835. 

Salmon P. Chase Ohio December 6, 1864. 

Morrison R. Waite Ohio January 21, 1874. 



1016 



APPENDIX. 



PRESIDENTS OP THE UNITED STATES, 

FROM 1T89 TO 1876. 



Name. 


Born. 


Died. 


Age 


George Washington . . 


Va., 1732, 


Mt. Vernon, Va., 


1799, 


67 


John Adams 


Mass., 1735, 


Quincy, Mass., July 4 
Monticello, Va., July 4 


1836 


91 


Thomas Jefferson 


Va., 1743, 


,1836, 


83 


James Madison 


Va., 1751, 


Montpelier, Vt., 


1836, 


85 


James Monroe 


Va., 1758, 


New York, July 4 


,1831, 


73 


John Quincy Adams. . 


Mass., 1767, 


Washington, D. V., 


1848, 


81 


Andrew .Tacksou 


N-. C, 1767, 


Hermitage, Tenn., 


1845, 


78 


Martin Van Bureu . . . 


N".Y., 1782; 


Kinderhook, N. Y., 


1863, 


80 


Wm. Henry Harrison. 


Va., 1773, 


Washington, D. C, 


1841. 


68 




Va., 1790, 


Richmond, Va., 
Nashville, Tenn., 


1862 


73 
.54 


James K. Polk 


N. C, 1795, 


1849, 


Zachary Taylor 


Va>., 1784, 


Washington, D. C, 


1850, 


66 


Millard Fillmore 


N.Y., 1800, 


Buffalo, N. Y., 


1873, 


73 


Franklin Pierce 


N. H., 1804, 


Concord, N. H., 


1869. 


65 


James Buchanan 


Penn.,1791, 


Wheatland, Penn., 


1868, 


77 


Abraham Lincoln 


Ky., 1809, 


Washington, D. C, 


18K), 


.56 


Andrew Johnson 


N. C, 1808. 


Greenville, Teun., 


1875, 


67 


Ulysses S. Grant 


Ohio, 1822, 









APPENDIX. 



1017 



POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ACCOKDING TO LATEST CENSUS, 1870. 



States. Population. 

Alabama 996,992 

Arkansas 484,471 

CaUforuia 560,247 

Connecticut 537,454 

Delaware 125,015 

Florida 187,748 

Georgia 1,184,109 

niiuois 2,539,891 

Indiana 1,680,637 

Iowa 1,194,020 

Kansas 364,399 

Kentucky 1,321,011 

Louisiana 726,915 

Maine 626,915 

Maryland 780,894 

Massachusetts 1,457,351 

Michigan 1,184,059 

Minnesota 439,706 

Mississippi 837,92:J 

Missouri 1,721,295 



States. Population. 

Nebraska 122,993 

Nevada 42,491 

New Hampshire 318,300 

New Jersey 906,096 

New York 4,382,750 

North Carolina 1,071,364 

Ohio 2,665.:«>0 

Oregon 90,920 

Pennsylvania 3,521,951 

Rhode Island 217,353 

South Carolina 705,000 

Tennessee 1,258,520 

Texas 818,579 

Vermont 330,551 

Virginia 1,22,5,163 

West Virginia 442,014 

Wisconsin 1,0.54,670 

Total of States 38,115,041 



Dtstriets and Po-pula- 

Teii'itorics. tion. 

District of Columbia 131,700 

Arizona 9,658 

Colorado ■■ 39,864 

Dakotah 14,181 

Idaho 14,999 

Montana ; 20,595 



Districts and Pnjnda- 

Territories. tion. 

New Mexico. 91,874 

Utah 86,786 

Washington 23,955 

Wyoming 9,118 



Total of Territories. . . 442,730 
Total of States 38,U5,641 



Total United States 38,558,371 



1018 



APPENDIX 



THE TWENTY MOST POPULOUS CITIES IN THE UNITED 

STATES. 



No. Cities. 1870. 

1. New York 943,292 

3. Philadelphia .674,033 

3. Brooklyn 39G,099 

4. St. Louis 310,864 

5. Chicago 298,977 

6. Baltimore 267,354 

7. Boston 250,526 

8. Cincinnati 216,239 

9. New Orleans 191,418 

10. San Francisco 149,473 

U. Buffalo 117,715 

12. Washington 109,199 

13. Newark 105,059 

14. Louisville 100,753 

15. Cleveland 92,829 

16. Pittsburgh. 86,078 

17. Jersey City 81,744 

18. Detroit 79,580 

19. Milwaukie 71,499 

20. Albany 69,422 





Increase 


1860. 


Per Cent 


805,658 


14.6 


565,539 


19.2 


206,661 


48.7 


160,773 


93.4 


109,360 


173.7 


213,411 


25.9 


177,840 


40.9 


101,044 


34.3 


168,675 


13.5 


56,803 


163.2 


81,129 


45.1 


61,132 


78.8 


71,941 


46.1 


68 033 


48.1 


43,417 


113.9 


49,217 


75.3 


29,226 


179.7 


45,619 


74.5 


45,246 


.58.1 


62,367 


11.4 






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